Voice Chat Master list of the past years (rough draft)

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Teri
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Voice Chat Master list of the past years (rough draft)

Post by Teri »

Here Is the rough rough draft of a list of all the Vc Notes. It is a bit over 600,000 characters hence the many bbs posts. Suggestions on table of contents, sorting and what not are welcome. There is 100 questions I got too tired to sort for the moment. Formatting suffered in exchange for the power to sort. There might be orphan questions and answers because of when I sorted stuff.

Very bad table of contents:



Mistral/Dominion/Factions
Shadgard/Assorted
Caer Ioan



Races


Faewyr

Fasa

Giganti -
Hillfolk -
Huecatn -

Khaldean -
Nuum -

Rhuidim -
Viali -


Immortals

Occult, Sorcery, and Arcana
Combat


Creatures, Resen, Canim, Nethrim

Undying/ESP and Twilight Eye
Animals
Crafting/Materials
Skill ideas/Questions
Class Quetions
Class questions druids
Character and cosmetic
Unsorted of one hundred plus questions







Mistral/Dominion/Factions



Q: "I had a lore question followup on squidgod but am fairly certain it won't get answered. So! I will instead go to my followup on the infested animals. I have a character that does not fight Resen for fear of infection, partially inspired by Caer Ioan and their talk of a procedure to protect against infection by making peeps nethertouched. It has, admittedly, made grinding combat a bit trickier. Is this still a thing? Does the Dominion have access? Will players be able to elect to undergo this procedure? Nethertouched when? (I'm sorry it's been so long since a 'when' question has shown up)." A: Rias says, "Sure, the whole nethertouched condition isn't exclusive to Caer Ioan or anything, and I'm sure there are a decent few in the Dominion as they utilize sorcery quite frequently. Some coming to be that way naturally, others may have sought it specifically. I'm still deciding how exactly to handle applying that to player characters, as I don't think I'd want to water it down to just something that people can sign up for and get. (And also I think a lot of people would regret it pretty quick.) That said, I will keep in mind those that are clearly seeking it specifically and have been for a while. There are those in Mistral Lake who would know all about that kind of thing." Maina asks, "Awesome, thanks. Good to know! The squidgod question is related to the message when you die and return to Ember Docks, and I'm assuming you'll want that to stay mysterious?" Rias says, "Yes, it will remain mysterious. More for the Crackpot Theories board! That messaging is definitely specifically there for a reason."
Q: (In the new Mistral Lake area) Will there be any zones to explore off the Old Ruins, as in CLOK? A: He doesn't think there are any zones, large zones. No sub-zones or anything like that. It's been really fun, walking through checking up on some stuff and noticing little spots that other GMs had built. It was cool to see those and explore them.
Q: Are there plans for more nether wells? I'm only aware of one, though I've seen a few areas that seem spooky enough that I would have thought they'd have one. Might be nice to have one near Mistral for when newbie Warlocks start spawning there? A: There are some spots set aside for a few more
Q: Can you outline the plans behind and the reasonings for, what the policies for characters in different factions will be? Will we just be barred from having two characters in seperate factions? A: You won't be able to have two active characters of the two different factions. If for whatever reason one of your characters switches, then you'd have to essentially shelve your other characters or maybe switch them over too. Shelving is viable; we don't want people doing stuff like spying with their alt in the other faction. Q What if you have two characters at once, though? Like... how do you transfer them BOTH because you can't log in on both at the same time. A: It would be on a case-by-case basis. There will probably be an allowance, maybe once, where we can do multiple characters at once (as long as it's not something ridiculous.) It's good to have established RP beforehand, for at least one character, that sets you up for moving to Mistral Lake/affiliating with a particular faction. If you have your character that you've been playing before the faction split happened, they might just move other characters over as well. It's something Rias has to discuss with his team more, and flesh out a little more. He doesn't want to see things that are against the spirit of the faction split, so they will just discuss with players individually and hash it out.
Q: Eugor says, "What was Mistral Lake like before the Dominion took control? Approx how long ago was that? What was the take over process like for them? Did the fog roll in before or after." A: Rias says, "There are paintings and illustrations of Mistral Lake (or rather, the lake platform district of Vatnfjall - it wasn't considered its own town at the time) from before the fall of Aetgard which depict it as bright and clear and sunny, or clear nights with the full moon reflecting off the water unimpeded by mist. So, general consensus is that the fog showed up sometime during or after the fall of the Great Kingdom. The Dominion didn't take control of Mistral Lake, but rather was born from the people of Mistral Lake. There was a somewhat abrupt shift of stance to a more imperialistic approach and to really get their mission going in trying to bring order to the Lost Lands, but the details are something you'll have to find in-game (and that I'll have to give ways of discovering)." Rias says, "Mistral Lake is the birthplace of the Dominion." Rias says, "They've expanded northward from there."
Q: Housing? A: Might throw up a thing about housing and expectations. If managed, no building houses outside town and in the major towns. There will be limited storage for the sake of item bloat. Customization stuff would be cool? We aren't going to let people have fancy mansions everywhere because the feel of the areas to be preserved if there is high class housing and stained-glass windows and gold everywhere. It will be counter to feel and aesthetic and feel of the game. Maybe pottery for tiles, furniture, wood planking floors. General idea is large upfront costs for the buy, then continually property tax so it has a continued costs as a riln sink. that will differ on area or size. It would be cool to pay extra to get hooked up to pay per month, Kitchen and running water? Water grid. Similar in Mistral but different flavor. Maybe arcana service to renew heating glyphs for flavor perks. Another one was mail delivered direction to house instead of post office. Virtualized permission instead of keys where it is assumed they knew where the guest key is or something and don't have to carry a key. On the other hand, he does worry about one person buying a house and sharing it. Wants to figure out how to make it so one person doesn't buy a house and game the system to get around the house costs. Make it so you can buy house pets but only if you are the home owner? You can only vote if you are a home owner? What happens if you don't pay? Likely a grace period that is more for item bloat reasons. It would only be loose items, not lose custom things. Or just store things away? He does plan a variety of houses but not individually. Maybe through auction or something for unique designs. Semi related he thinks would be neat is for certain companies to have a facility. Not a big castle but a meeting hall with x number of chambers and set aside a spot for meetings. Communal area with rooms. Maybe if big enough they could be built a spot in another location. Needs to rework company code.
Q: How do trials for crimes go in Mistral?A: If they feel it is worth it, they will have a trial. They will trust the word off the officials. If you attack someone, don't expect a trial or npc or official speaking to you before you get the boot. No guarantee for a trial. Not enough resources they are willing to spend on it.
Q: Isolani asks, "I've got two questions. Firstly: how common are the Pale in the Dominion? Like can you just head on down to the pub and wave to ole Pale Jimmy and Pale Bobbingham, then have a nice beer with Pale Sally and it's no big deal? Or are they very rare and typically only seen as bodyguards or mixed in with military forces? A: Rias says, "The Pales aren't extremely common, but they're not extremely rare either. Citizens of Mistral Lake are likely to be familiar with them, seeing them on guard and patrol duty, and sure, occasionally at the local tavern or fishing off the side of the town platform."
Q: Kohl/temporary description modifier items? Any chance of that this Octum festival, or with the release of Mistral Lake (whichever is first) A: General cosmetics would be fun. Rias needs suggestions so as how to write this up so that it looks nice. It would be good to crowdsource text strings. More BBS threads!
Q: Okay, last one out of me, I think: I've been finding it odd that there's an infested camp like RIGHT BY Mistral Lake. I know, I know, it's a low-level hunting zone, but you would think that the Dominion would burn it down to keep the Resen from spreading through their central lands. A: Yeah it is a little off. Mechanically it is there as a hunting ground, but theme wise the dominion isn’t able to handle literally everything. B It seems they don’t have quite the grip they would like to have on their main area. The question is could they handle it normally but can’t now because of stuff abroad. It is a mix of both, game reasons and to show they aren’t perfection. There are thigns they are unable to handle, not bothering because focus elsewhere. Also the fact it is hard to root out infested areas you can kill all the stuff and light it on fire. Like cockroaches you can’t get rid of them it is tough. In that particular instance it is considered mostly contained and underground and coming up to the surface but not spreading on the surface. It is like they have tried before and cave it in but they dug it out again. Infested be like. The information they have a thing for tunneling and digging is base info anyone would know.
Q: Silly asks, "I've got two questions! Firstly, Will those other villages under the Dominion be open for everyone to visit, initially?"A: Rias says, "They're there primarily for flavor, and to show the Dominion has multiple territories. I worry that making them visitable might end up with people getting attached to them and wanting to "live" in them rather than Mistral itself. But maybe they'll open occasionally for specific events and such."
Q: Teri asks (muffled by a mask), "Are varhounds still a thing, and is it a generic thing across the Lost Lands, or specific to Mistral Lake?"A: Rias says, "Varhounds are still a thing, and I need to get them added to Mistral. Minion code is still underdeveloped, but don't be surprised if you see those Vatnfjall patrolmen walking around with some varhounds in tow at some point. Varhounds aren't absolutely exclusive to Mistral Lake, but that's where you'd tend to see them."
Q: Teri asks (muffled by a mask), "The Council of Nine: who are they? Were they elected or appointed by the Master of the Keep? Are they titled like... Minister of War, Minister of Economy, etc. or just a more general governing body without specific areas of influence assigned to them?"A: Rias says, "The Council of Nine were elected by the people to give the citizens of Mistral Lake a better place and representation in the Mistral Lake government. I'll add a lore study somewhere to give an account of when that happened. The Council of Nine Representatives all have their areas of expertise, but the individuals aren't necessarily limited to only those areas." A:Rias says, "I have a list of what their names and specialties are, so I'll dig that up and add it to the wiki somewhere."
Q: Teri says, "For my question, I was curious if you had any bbs posts recently you had comments on, or anything you were intrigued by. I am putting you on the spot, but was kinda curious either now or by the next voice chat if any stand out." A: Rias exclaims, "We've had some good huntable creature suggestions!" Rias says, "The death stuff has really tempted me to get off-track, but I'm sticking with Mistral still." Rias says, "And of course, the crackpot theories are a good read." Rias says, "But I've honestly been kind of skimming the BBS recently, since I'm trying my best to focus on Mistral and I do get very easily distracted. Even little quick fixes/updates can add up to a big distraction."
Q: What about the other Harbinger immortals? A: They get an increased presence in mistral lake and generally supporte and equal opportunity. Likely we will be seeing something around town soon to give those immortals presence and knowledge they are working for.
Q: What does Mistral think of pistols? Related, are they like, occult is my god and use it for everything, or are they just occult freedom. A: Pistols are just another weapon I guess. They're fine with that. They have their occult stuff they like to make use of. Mistral Lake is not going to be some super extreme arcane magical menagerie every step you take as you walk down the street, however.
Q: What does the religious environment within Mistral Lake look like? Is there a temple to Bathal? A: There is plans for a temple in there and he is pretty popular in Mistral Lake right now given the dominion and everything. They don't have a preferred immortal they push on anyone they are generally pretty open about religious stuff. the exceptions are the church of light st vito with Serafina. They have an interesting situation as there is a church in town and has a presence but there is a feel or rumor about thaumaturges. That the dominion is trying to find these people, an oppressive feel about those particular supporters or group.
Q: What exactly are the plans going forward with the game? A: Right now he's working on trying to finish up Mistral Lake and that new area and the new faction. This is so that we'll have two exclusive, not necessarily hostile, factions that people can be in and add that new dynamic to the game. If it ends up being super sucky and the game suffers for it, it's not something that's going to be unchangeable. That said, he's hoping it will add an interesting dynamic, people occasionally working against eachother for some things.
Q: What is Mistral Lake's view on the nether, resen, and other similarly dangerous things? A: They like sorcerers. They love 'em. That's part of the controversy; the rumor is they're hunting down thaumaturges and squashing them. They use things like specters who openly float around and stuff, as watchers. They have the Pales, who everyone assumes are nether-enhanced/brainwashed/etc people. They also have occasional big, giant oakheart Gollums made out of wood which work like siege units and stuff; they're nether-animated. Resen, they don't like it. For canim, it's complicated. They're willing to utilize them if they can maintain control, but they're still treated very warily.
Q: What would Fahima say, if I asked her about the clock tower in the ruins near Mistral? I've asked, but she doesn't seem to be interested in talking about that, but she specifically says, tell her about any clockwork stuff you find in old ruins. A: Escort me over there some time so I can check.
Q: When you're saying a limited zone, are you thinking when it gets released people will only have access to Mistral Lake (the town), or will we have access to the wilderness zone around it? A: There'll be wilderness. It's in its own wilderness area, smaller, that branches into the larger one, the existing one; Flametip and Dusklamp &c. Everyone will be able to walk up to the settlement, the entrance to Mistral Lake, regardless of affiliation. Basically, the road is going to open; he wouldn't want to have people cut off.
Q: Will Mistral scoff at technology over occult? A: No, they're practical people. If it works it works. He doesn't know that the towns are going to have equivalents of the same thing, e.g. steamworks in Mistral --- it would water down the differences.
Q: Will the concierge of the rook Parlour be making a return in the Mistral chapter? A: Yes! Yes, it will. The Warlocks will be able to hang out in the back area of that, Edwena will be there still to talk to people. Dunham will also be there to keep the riff-raff from going further into the parlor.
Q: Will there be an equivalent for hanged man in mistral? A: Maybe, but it's harder to make that fly with their lore.
Q: With the release of Mistral, we've seen a lot of new and a lot of old. What's your favourite addition, favourite old, new in the pipeline you're excited for, and thing you miss most about the old that won't be making an appearance? A: He just missed how Misty Mistral was. (HAHAHAHAHAHA.) He didn't realize how the world just didn't feel quite right without it. The favorite new thing about mistral is the citizens services center. He had a player who really helped with the descriptions of that place and he just absolutely loves how it turned out. He likes that it's like-- a fixture. It's nicer than the other buildings. It's pretty, it's got the statue. It really projects the Dominion vibe. His favorite old things that won't be returning are a lot of the history. A lot of the stuff that happened in clok kind of happened in cogg in some capacity-- or had some analogue of happening. But it's rough to like not have any of that personal history with each player. He misses a lot of the churchy stuff; some of his favorite events and activities involved or were at least kicked off by the church of light related activities, and that's thing that he continually struggles with-- just the fact that it was so prominant there, and that it's not as prominant here. The church of light, that is. he's just so psyched about how much emphasis has been brought around the other immortals now as a result, though. It was noted that he didn't really like that when the Church of Light did have more presence, that it was ultimately seen as the defacto "Church". Like it was the one church-like thing, when in fact it wasn't the only thing of it's sort. Other immortals still existed and all that-- but that was just a mild tangent.
Q: With your timeline, would there be any Mistral citizens who saw the beginning of the Dominion becoming more than Mistral Lake and would remember what it was like in the dark days before things became stabilised?A: Haven't committed to a timeline yet. So we're going to go with a tentative probably. It's been around a while, but we're not sure exactly how long approximately. Recent enough that it's still considered recent.
Q: . Is there a known symbol of the Resistance? 2. How organized is the Resistance? 3. Are there any rumors of a connection between the Republic and the Resistance?'." A: Rias says, "There's one symbol associated with the Resistance which is a sunbeam piercing a dark cloud, but of course I can't say whether that's official, or the only symbol associated with them. How oragnized they are is a matter of debate! To hear the Dominion tell it, they're a laughable unorganized rabble, but the fact that they're still being talked about and credited (unofficially) with being thorns in the Dominion's side suggests there's at least some level of competence or organization. A connection between the Republic and the Resistance seems at least plausible. If nothing else, it stands to reason that the Republic at least supporting the Resistance would be in their own interest."
Q: Any Republic stuff you are excited about? A: It is nice to put things to paper and not forget about, hammering out the details of how they work. IT isn't based on but loosely inspired by pirate republic. They are trying to unite all the people being dumped in the area, but they were also criminals and exiles and stuff. They have rules but they are fluid and sometimes they look away and stuff. It is fun to think about. Keep people to gather but let people do their own thing. The settlements can be independent, but don't attack each other, don't trade with enemies like dominion. Help each other out. Each settlement has their own govt but is figuring that out. Ruler of those settlements and rules themselves but break it up in districts with speakers elected to districts with a certain pop so they speak to the rulers, then rulers convene as the republic bring up concerns and discuss laws. They feel like they pick reps. It isn't the perfect system or govt, has the messy parts.
Q: Bonehead asks, "Ahh, I see. My other question isn't as crazy. How long has the Dominion been a political/Military force that survivors in the Lost Lands might have known about?" A: Rias: The dominion is a quite recent development. Many attribute much of their early success to this: it happened fairly suddenly that they started absorbing other survivor settlements. Nobody knew to be worried about it at first, thinking these people are just coming in to help them survive, not realizing they are being assimilated into a larger highly authoritarian force that nobody had heard of before
Q: Can we expect to see Bathal more present in the Dominion? The new shrine is pretty awesome, but is it just like an off-side sort of thing? A: Yeah we are going to see a dedicated spot somewhere in town.
Q: Darkangel says (muffled by a bandana-mask), "Sorry if it sounds like a strange question, But, would it be possible for player characters to eventually get a particular job in a certain faction? e.g. my character hopes to end up as a banker for the mistveil dominion." A: Rias says, "I don't know that it would happen officially, as I don't think it's feasible to code in mechanics for all the mundane jobs in the land. Handling of others' money and storage items could get particularly dicey in the banker scenario. It might be more something to pursue as RP and perhaps it could be eventually supported by NPCs through RP and such more as just a background fact about a character."
Q: Does the Dominion keep official tabs on Harbinger types in the sense of, like... if there was some suspicious spider-y nonsense going on in Dominion lands, would they be whipping out their dossiers on all known Aranas worshippers and bringing them in for questioning? A: They do that to everybody regardless they keep tabs on everything. Yes. What they choose to act on varies.
Q: Does the Republic military have any standard form/structure or is it highly dependant on where they're drawn from? A: It depends mostly on where it's drawn from-- it's a loose coalition that doesn't really have a standing orderly and unified army. People who have guys take their guys and make what they can of it as pretty as they can. But it's ragtag stuff. Q: What exactly is keeping the Dominion do engaged in the North? Resistance uprising, Republic forces? The normal dangers of the Lost Land? Are they on the offensive, or is it more defensive as in, is this La Grande Armées march forward or the Limes Germanicus? A: It's not something we hear a bunch of detail about here in the central lost lands. The official word is that they're trying to secure their holdings up there and make sure everyone up in the northern territories are safe, building up their infrastructure, and working to get everyone as settled in as they can. It's a large effort that takes a lot of manpower because there's a lot of territory up there. (Relatively speaking.) They basically just have their hands full, putting the dominion in order so to speak. New defences, education systems, roads, etc. Some of the rumors, however, are that there's rebellion in the north, there's people trying to leave the dominion, resist the dominion's encroachment northward, etc. That's one of the bigger ones that's flowing around. The dominion doesn't deny existance to their expansion, either. They acknowledge that some people don't necesarily want to go around with all of their laws and standards and customs. But they don't give credit to it as a big deal; they look at it as something that's inevitably going to happen to any nation of any size, and they feel capable of addressing it adequately.
Q: Does the tower in the Dominion's symbol represent a specific place, or more just generally symbolic? The keep is a... keep, so I'm curious if there is an iconic mist-shrouded tower somewhere. A: It is the keep itself and the tower there.
Q: I have been thinking about what the correct authoritarian states are for model comparisons with the Dominion and that is a fun rabbit hole and also has led me to these questions: What is the corruption like? Are there people near the top who arbitrarily accuse upcoming rivals of things like sedition, treason, supporting rebels, etc to keep them down? Are confiscated things given out as rewards to state officers? If corruption is prevalent, is it visible? Do the citizenry believe the leaders are corrupt? A: He likes to think the dominion. there is always going to be use and abuse of power and those are some themes, but don't think they will be extreme themes of. They are authoritarian but they are in an idealistic phase and want to create their vision of not dystopia/eutopia depending on perspectives. Some are power mad, but it isn't the Dominions thing. They want things to be orderly, work just how they want it all to. They are not tyrants taking over the world twisting their mustaches. They are just the bad guys they have a vision they are genuinely interested in achieving. they aren't trying to do it at the expense of the citizenry. Not Drones, but they want citizens to be satisfied. Happy citizens are non-rebellious and is overall good. They are not a shallow vision club, to clarify. They tend to orderly and authoritarian, but they tend to respect everyone, cities and peers alike until they get uppity or something. Some odd cases occasionally crop up crushing people, but that isn't the norm. He wants the dominion to be a respectable group. Don't want them to be obviously cartoonishly evil empire because there is no shred of decency
Q: If you're very anti-Dominion, but you want to move there to undermine them in their own territory, is that a reasonable justification for moving? A: You would definitely have to be careful about it; if they find out, they won't just look past it. It'd be tricky, but yeah, ultimately. As part of the established lore, there is an established resistance for people who want to play that angle. It would be tricky, but if you're consistently sabotaging their efforts, they're likely to find out.
Q: It has been a while since we've seen any lore drops outside of conversation with NPCs. Do you have some in the pipeline or is this very much on the back-burner for now? Do you think we'll see some of the recent stuff imbedded in items/NPC topics, like the Karker Cult and Dominion stuff? A: he does have a list of lore studiables that he's been wanting to work on for a long time that he just doesn't know where to put yet-- but maybe it's time to take an afternoon and figure out where to disperse some of it.
Q: People have mentioned they're concerned that when a faction split occurs, that they won't be able to easily access resources currently only found in that land mass. Do you have anything in mind that will alleviate that concern? Or do you encourage that and consider it one of the Dominion "perks"? A: part of it is definitely deliberate, but they don't ever want to exclude access from basic tools to do basic crafts or the like. On the other hand, they do like the idea that depending on what faction you are, you might have or not have access to resource X. Not something that is necesarily *needed* but more so cool because you *want* it. So-- everyone will be on a level playing field, but he likes the potential idea of some exclusivity.
Q: Republic are who? A: One group of Exiles who decided they want to unionize. Despite having a fancy name, they aren't particularly well-off, as opposed to the Dominion.
Q: Teri asks (muffled by a mask), "Are there any Pales in prominent positions? Like are the Pales mainly foot soldiers or might you see a Pale commander or even a hoity-toity politician?"A: Rias says, "Commandant Muiris, one of the Council of Nine Representatives, is a pale and is the head of the Dominion military. There are other Council members who are Pales as well and aren't involved in the military, though not all of them are Pales. So yes, Pales can be more than just grunts and mooks."Rias says, "That said, they do seem to be seen more often among said grunts and mooks."
Q: Teri asks (muffled by a mask), "Do you have any thoughts as to how the Dominion's military is structured?"A: Rias says, "I've never had a whole lot of interest in the military and their structure and positions and ranks and all that, so I don't have anything solid on the Dominion military structure. Something I should probably get more detail on at some point. But I'll use this opportunity to remind that the Dominion military is impressive by Lost Lands standards, not whole-world standards. Lost Lands is pockets of struggling survivors, not a thriving highly-populated nation like those outside the Quarantine."
Q: Teri asks (muffled by a mask), "Does the Dominion actually utilize Harbingers in an official capacity, like, are there Harbingers of specifically Bathal in its hierarchy, or are they always holding an agent status?" A: Rias says, "They're not mutually exclusive or anything. Some people involved in the Dominion government may well be Harbingers. Bathal is a more popular one in the Dominion, but Aranas has a bit of a place as well, which should be understandable for those who have heard about some of the lesser-known aspects of Aranas that certain Harbingers have been speaking out about recently."
Q: Teri asks (muffled by a mask), "Does the Dominion's respect of Bathal factor into their military? For example, is it fairly common for some to pray to him before a fight, and held by a Priest, or is it very much an individual thing and less formal?" Rias says, "I'd say it's not a formal thing, but it would be seen pretty commonly."
Q: Teri asks (muffled by a mask), "Last two questison from bbs for now. Are trials a thing in the Dominion's justice system? and Do you have any thoughts as to how the Dominion's military is structured?" A: Rias says, "Trials can be a part of Dominion justice, but only when the government feels they are merited. There is no common right to a trial or attorney or anything like that. Most matters are simply handled by relevant government officials, and a trial might happen if their decision is contested by others in the government or if they don't feel they have the means to make an adequate decision without one. I'm sure there's more legalese behind when they do or don't happen, but I'm not into tangled rules and lawyering so don't expect a whole lot of specific detail there." Rias says, "I'm sure public opinion can also have influence over when trials happen. If some popular community member were to be accused for a crime, the Dominion may well put on a trial just to try and get all the information out there and to convince the community that the legal action and punishment was justified." Rias says, "When it comes to PCs, I wouldn't expecto to ever see a trial beyond some rare potential event that was planned beforehand. I'm not into trial drama and law tedium, and I think it would be a very draining process when effort could be better spent elsewhere by staff."
Q: Think this one has been mentioned before, but I've noticed a people assume Canim are a Dominion area specific thing, just like Liberi are a Valeria only thing. Is this grounded in reality or based on player assumptions with current area releases.A: There are a concentration of canim and liberi in the central lost lands, but they can both be found all over the lost lands outside of our central accessible area. They're not specifically located to dominion lands or valeria or the like. The liberi are known to have lots of different groups all over the place. There's a ton of speculation about whether or not they're all the same group, if they're independent, how or if they interact with each other, that kind of thing. They clearly have similar identifying features, but they simultaneously seem not to be acting in unison.
Q: What do we know about the lost lands outside the current map area? Do we know about the towns including the dominion and stuff between us and lapisA: There is not a lot beyond villages and enclaves beyond the ones mentioned in the question and a couple republic spots on some islands.
Q: What is the taxation like? I know there aren't any taxes in the game presently, at least, not that are labeled as such, but lore-wise does the Dominion have relatively steep taxes to pay for their larger-than-normal military and police forces and ministry of occult research (or whatever they call it)? A: Yeah. He imagines they have some decent taxes there but honestly doesn't know about how to make a response. Going along with organized efforts, forts, building roads, and villages are described as having gates and walls out there and obviously takes money. Definitely need money for it.
Q: What other major Republic populations are there beyond Porto? A: The answer is there's not really a specific answer. He rambled last week about it. They're not big and established, they're more ragtag and trying to get more people to join them. Right now, coastal villages and stuff. What stops the Dominion from just taking over? They're busy. They have issues going on in the Dominion itself and stuff. Republic is not a real foe in their eyes. Porto is their main area/capital.
Q: Where are we with the Republic? We've really still not seen them present at all in the game world. A: We will get there. We will be seeing more of them as Dominion stuff starts ramping up. they need more general presense in the minds of people. Could throw some npcs about.
Q: Will Blackwater undergo changes during this time? Is that going to be one of those points of conflict? A: Blackwater will make things interesting. Things could start happening there; we'll see, as things go on and progress. He has no specific plans for changes in there but it is a Dominion site that's way out of Dominion territory, so there are potential plot points.
Q: Will there be a less lawful nether-approving society? Or one which is less order-bent? A: If you mean a major primary faction, probably not. He doesn't want to build a major primary faction for every lifestyle; there's plenty of people in the Dominion who don't want to be there, but there's also a bunch who aren't super lawful who are there because it serves them or it's worth it in some manner to them.
Q: Who are the loggers in Blackwater affiliated with? are they Dominion? A: They're hiring locals out there. There are plenty of loggers there who are just independent. Still, you're more likely to have people that are supportive of the Dominion in a Dominion-controlled place like Blackwater Logging Camp.
Q: Speaking of death and the Undying, what sort of safeguards are or will be in place to ensure that there is no accidental dragging of off-faction corpses to out-of-bounds locations? For example, were a Dominion or true exile player to be slain inside Ravenwood or Tarueka (or outside, for the truly unfortunate), then someone unrelated attempts to be courteous and drag the unrecognized body back to Shadgard's crypt? A: He might need to put in a thing for when players are dragging a corpse of someone from the opposite faction/someone who's been banned into a town. Perhaps the guards would say "Hey, they're not allowed in here." There could potentially be a thing where, after some amount of time, the corpse just gets delivered to wherever the faction-friendly place is.
Q: What's the diet further north? Will there be different huntable animals to eat like deer/elk near Shadgard? I would love to have bever to turn into hats. Do the dominion have more of a seafood diet since gutcram is a popular "dish"? A: They'll have different critters! In the town itself, there is a lot of seafood stuff, because they're on a platform over a lake and it's readily available food. So yes, there will be different creatures. There'll be some overlap too, some common creatures too.
Q: Why should us wildlander types give any concern to the cityfolk brawling about their faction war? A: Not everyone needs to! But that doesn't mean that one is immune to being effected by said conflict whether they care or not. For example-- the dominion might claim sole access to a particular sort of tree that shadgardians can't access anymore because they're claiming that area.
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:22 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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Teri
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Shadgard part 1

Post by Teri »

Shadgard/Assorted


A: Speaking to Rias, Rocode says (muffled by a skull), "And finally, will Shadgard have a design pass to bring it up to the same level of detail as Mistral? (e.g. firearms shop, unique novelty/flavor stuff, etc.)." Rocode says (muffled by a skull), "To clarify, detail meaning flavor, not mechanical resources." A: Rias says, "Yes! I'm excited to get some Shadgard stuff going, and they especially need their gun shop opened. It's Shadgard! If people have other ideas for flavor/novelty stuff to add to Shadgard, feel free to post ideas on the BBS. Keep in mind I want Shadgard to stick to its feel as a dusty frontier mining town, in contrast to the fancy-pants Mistral feel. For anyone jealous of the fancy, it'd be best to consider moving to Mistral Lake rather than expecting it to come to Shadgard." Rias says, "(And of course, we have Fahima and her crew giving Shadgard its MINOR steam/gas/pipes feel. But that stuff is Fahima-style, i.e. lots of spit and grit and duct tape. Not fancy polished orderly shiny technology.)."
Q : For players with older accounts who are considering joining Mistral Lake, will they have to retire their older shelved characters? What might the transition look like for them?A: Once you shelve your Dominion characters you could unshelve your Shadgard ones. There could be metaphysicky stuff later, we will cross that bridge when we come to it.
Q What is the infrastructure in the Lost Lands, and Arad like? Are there any cobbled/brick/etc./ roads, canals, etc.? A: It is perhaps unrealistic to expect established routes and roadsover long distances. While Aetgard has a good tech level, infrastructure has degraded over time and routes are quite delapidated, especially off the beaten path (e.g. Shadgard).
Q: Zaeed asks, "Thanks and the third is concerning the mistvale dominian. i fear that the rp might become more tense if there are too much hostilities between chars, is there a plan to counter the pvp hostilities and keep them to cvc? because i heard that if you have a char in shadgard then you cannot have a char in mistral or something similar. please clarify that?" A: ((DEV Rias)) says, "Yeah, it just means you can't have active characters in both factions at the same time. If you want to make the switcharoo with an alt to Mistral for instance, you'll first have to shelve your Shadgard characters. We feel there are too many potential issues in allowing people to quickly hop between the two. Too many situations like meta-spying or sabotaging your enemy faction via an alt, etc. ((DEV Rias)) says, "As far as keeping the hostilities in-character... I don't really have a particular plan in mind at the moment honestly, aside from trustin that our playerbase is generally trustworthy and being willing to have one-on-ones with people if any problem cases come up."
Q: About Shadgard and its history. is there a conflict of information/did things change, how is the town governed? Is there a mayor still? [paraphrase] A: There's mayor *and* a town council. The mayor has more sway than the council. The different council members kind of have their different specialisations for the town. The mayor is supposed to be the one who talks with the people; they help ensure that the people's voice is heard, as an arbiter between the people and the council. Who is the mayor of shadgard right now? It's not been decided. Rias is trying to decide if it's the same as in CLOK, he's not sure. It's something Rias really wants to do.
Q: After Mistral Lake is released, will new players get an option to join the town at account creation, or will they have to earn their way into the town?A: There'll just be a character creation option. You won't be able to do it if you have an active character of the other faction. You would just have to go to your account screen and shelve your Shadgard characters and then go to character creation and say you want to be Mistral.
Q: Any information on what Crowhaven believes, on what he wants to achieve out there? A: it's just a little blurb so far that says he's a powerful reclusive sorcerer. People form cults around him, but he still refuses to see anyone. This is another one of those things: stuff with Crowhaven has such deep roots in local lore, he's such a big part of it. He hasn't put anything out there, there probably should be.There was going to be some information forthcoming with Caer Ioan but that didn't work out (will probably still be a thing sooner or later). Crowhaven is not just a little footnote. C: Another lore thing, local lore thing: he was going to make a section of the Shadgard Town Hall be a study location.
Q: Are all the sneaky things lurking around Shadgard part of future content? A: Yes. There will be similarities with CLOK, here, without wishing to give too much away. NPCs close to Rias' heart.
Q: Are Canim more or less likely to be seen in Dominion lands than around Shadgard? A: Canim are more likely to be seen in dominion lands than shadgard. yes.
Q: Are formal public executions a thing in the Lost Lands? I know of at least one case of IC mob justice, but would Shadgard ever officially hang someone? Or the Dominion? Or is the Dominion more of a beheading lot? Or do both sides prefer more of a, "Just get out," approach? A: It is a thing that happens but not common. It’s a thing that happens but it isn’t a once in a lifetime. They do hangings in Shadgard for egregious things, and dominion is a beheading type. For cases of undying it will vary. Lore wise there is the hope they won’t come back from this one. They might count on that, or keep them locked away and keep them out of play as long as possible.
Q: Are there venomous snakes in the Lost Lands? Does the Shadgard infirmary employ a skilled snake handler whose job is to milk venomous snakes for the purposes of producing antivenom? A: There are venomous snakes in the area. As far as a dedicated NPC goes, that would be fun to make. We may have some tasks for treating individuals with snake bites and he'd love to have occasional fishing mishaps. He remembers he had a bunch of ideas for different diseases that could be treated by physickers.
Q: Bo asks, "Does Shadgard have a stronger connection with the Pumpkin King over other townships/factions? I know they're not just limited to the lost lands, based on what I've read on the wiki, but, in years past, none other than Shadgard have decorated or what not. Intentional?" A: Speaking to Bo, ((DEV Rias)) says, "I'd say Shadgard is probably the place where the Pumpkin King and his associated lore is the most popular and commonly-known. It's a cultural thing that they in particular get into. Not just for the lore, but also because they enjoy making a holiday of it."
- economics - the economic situation of Shadgard is money rich (from the ruins and such) and resource poor (hence no iron from shops in town)
Q: Can we get an official mailbox for writing letters to Santa Papa Vodr Mistveil/Shadgard local governments?A: gets sort of weird because people expect answers and all of it can't be handled, and gm team can't handle the nitty gritty of the govt. Could create unrealistic expectations and making assumptions on not getting responses. Or the gm doesn't know what someone would say. Not a gm expertise. Ends up with everuyone frustrated. Can write the letters and think but don't expect a response. Might do mailbox for temporary things. Same things apply for contacting guild or society leaders
Q: Can we pour liquid containers out of windows please? A: There is at least one scripted item where you could do this. It does sound like something you would expect to see in Shadgard.
Q: Can we shovel paths through the snow on the main streets of Shadgard? Does heavy snow increase travel time? Are weather based/seasonal-based tasks possible? A: There is a shovel snow tasks and checks if snow, then makes it available. It is fluff but doesn't do anything. Having snow effect things like travel time it would be neat but it would be annoying as all heck. That might be something to do if something is let go for too long, maybe then have a reason to have people do it. Find a line where people who do it feel they are contributing, but not making it a hassle every hour. Maybe not have it come up often.
Q: Chariot says, "First off, huge shoutout for everyone here, gms and players alike, for being awesome please past 19 something months of my existence. And recent particular shoutout for shake lockboxes and snowmen." Chariot says, "Now to the question part: if housing is a thing in the future, will it be generic like inn rooms or are there something like styles or whatever to choose from? Or does it have to be custom made like old Clok partial housing system."A: Rias says, "You can thank Jerc or Janarc for the lockbox shaking. I always get the two of them confused, but one of them suggested it and I thought it was a good one." Chariot says, "Aw, I thought you spied on ma gameplay! I had a few days of exessive shake lockbox emote and all of a sudden it was in." Rias says, "Housing will be copies of existing templates for the most part, but the hope is to have a variety of house styles to choose from. So you might get a shabby house in the poorer area, a nicer house in the wealthier area, a house carved into the mountainside along the Shadgard canyon walls or the where the Mistral platform meets the mountainside, etc. Beyond that though, I do love some of the old CLOK houses and may throw them in at some point as unique auctioned home or something." Rias exclaims, "Housing will also likely be quite small though, just to get that out there early!" Rias says, "Remember that both Shadgard and Mistral Lake are very tight on physical space. They don't have room for yards or expansive manor houses. (Except maybe an occasional unique, extremely expensive/auction one or something)."
Q: Considering how much Shadgard hates sorcery/etc, how do they consider the Octum Festival? Is it a taboo thing, or is it cheery and well-loved? A: There are parts of it they love; they love the harvest festival stuff, the stuff to ward off netherim, etc. There's more of a "Stay away from Flannigan." but they don't think the festival is bad. It's not something you have to keep quiet in Shadgard, plenty of them go if they're willing to brave the roads.
Q: Delphine asks, "Given the connection between Bathal and Kurn, are there places in the world where they would share the same holy space? Like, 'Oh, yeah, that's the Bathal/Kurn temple/shrine?' Or is it more like Bathal always has his orderly, pragmatic temples while Kurn has her bloody, makeshift altars out in the woods?" A: Rias says, "I could see occasional shrines, sites, or temples to both of them, sure. Those would be the exception, but not unheard of. Kind of like a single temple to Vodr, Nereia, and Naia. (And maybe a hidden little trapdoor leading down to the Verungnr Pit.)." Q: Delphine asks, "Love it. The Kurn Pit. My next question: It sounds like Bathal is generally considered kosher while Kurn is not. Given how they often work together, how does that track in places like Shadgard where Bathal would be considered 'not terrible,' (but also not the preferred)? Do people just conveniently turn a blind eye to the fact that he associates with a daemon? Or does Kurn's association with Bathal actually make her a bit more palatable to some?" A: Rias says, "That association contributes to Bathal being less-generally-accepted. Those in places where Kurn is more a taboo would probably use it more as a cautionary tale type of thing, saying see, here is when Bathal tried to work with Kurn, and look at all the chaos and problems that resulted. A reminder to not deal with the likes of Kurn." Q: Delphine says, "Brilliant. Thank you. Last question from me: I'm trying to think of how best to phrase this one. Will followers of specific immortals ever have a hierarchy with cool titles? An example of what I mean: adherents of Serafina could be called Lightbringers or something equally awe- inspiring. The highest level of a Bathal worshipper could be given the title of, 'Conquerer.' Is that something you'd be more keen on players just coming up with on their own or will we eventually see somewhat structured religious organizations which are canon (outside of the Harbingers as a blanket organization for the darker immortals)? I hope that made sense." A: Rias says, "You hear a tale of desparate times calling for desparate measures where Bathal called upon Kurn (or pointed her at something/someone), and then point out how bad the results or side effects were, and use that to say that even in desparate times we should be mindful of what desparate measures we take." Delphine says, "Side note: I now want to see a book in-game entitled something like 'Cautionary Tales for Incautious Children'." A: Rias says, "I think some kind of official-unofficial religious organization could be neat. Positions and titles and such with stuff like that are always a lot of fun. The two big worryies there for me are: A) People treating it as just a mechanic or something they can "grind" to get rep with an Immortal or their organization. I like stuff with Immotals to be deeper that and more personal. And B) People thinking that these organizations are The One True Way It Is for these Immortals, when Immortals stuff is extremely varied even when it comes to interpretations of the same Immortal. But those worries aside: I do think it's cool stuff. I'd love to find a way to make it work, and give the dedicated folks their moments and their places." Delphine says, "Oh for sure. I agree on all points. Thank you for letting me bother you with more immortal RP questions! That's it from me. Thank you for the tattoo (and other stuff.) They're awesome." Rias says, "And side note: I'm thrilled with how much more attention the Immortals are getting in COGG than in CLOK. I've said it before but I'm saying it again because it fills me with joy."
Q: Does Druidry negatively affect Shadgard views? A: It makes them uncomfortable, but he's still thinking about it.
Q: Does Shadgard have an education system? A: "I think there's a schoolhouse somewhere. It's just not specifically mentioned. It's not required, people can send their kids or themselves to school if they want. It's more like a trade school."
Q: Does Shadgard have any popular tall tales or legends similar to the ones we have in the United States? For example, Paul Bunyan, Sasquatch, the Jersey Devil, Lost Dutchman's Gold Mine, etc. A: There's a lot of the Octum lore that falls into that category: the headless lord, the drink that's named after the scarecrows. As far as more folk figures go, it'd be fun but he doesn't really have specifics or anything concrete written down. He really wants to dive into a lot of local lore at some point. So far, a lot of the lore that he puts up has been world lore; a lot of it tends to be stuff away from Shadgard and the Lost Lands --- it's all stuff about peoples' homelands, etc. There are a couple of artifacts that give little hints at local lore. He's really glad that the whole snowbird stuff has caught on, but he doesn't really have anything as specific as Paul Bunyan.
Q: Does the Dominion have its own kind of "Woodland Conservation Act?" Similar to Shadgard? Do they seem to care (on the aggregate) about responsible land stewardship? A: He is sure they have their own kind of way to make the most efficient use of the land in their head. Less protective in nature but efficiency to have it available the future. And regulations he is sure they have that in place in the background
Q: For backstory would it be better to for backstory use places for we have the names or hypothetical villages.A: Don’t use Lapis as they keep to themselves because people don’t know about them. Don’t insinuate anything about sizable settlements if background wise, very primitive settlements. The main is, it is fine, but they are remote, not involved in trade. If they were big enough they would be known, or taken over by threats. Less than 100 in a hamlet. Life is going to tough for those people, scratching out a life. The lost lands is an unpleasant place to live. The nicer places are the Dominion, Shadgard or Republic. Wants to maintain the aesthetic the lost lands is an awful place. If you come up with names for these small places, it isn’t going to conflict with lore because they are small insignificant places
Q: Gorth asks, "Do the benches in the Shadgard Commons have backs? Does the one in Stormholdt? Do the player built ones?" A: Rias says, "I've always assumed so. Need that back support."
Q: Has your thinking on mercenaries offering their services to either Shadgard or Mistral Lake shifted at all? A: I think if about the same. If you get a rep for both sides, both sides might suspect you, but might have to live the emberlight life. The merc idea is really cool, feel likes it if we make that an option a lot of people won't take a side and be a floaty mid cross faction and would defeat what we are trying to work. Dislaimer if exclusive thing ends up being awful, we will move away from it. Feeling things out and see how it goes.
Q: How does Shadgard feel about arcana and mesmerizing? A: They are going to be naturally kind of leery of Druidry, arcana and bardic words. Same for glowing in town, growing claws so the townsfolk might be pretty leery of. Bardic words are very specific word and intonations, can't be mumbled under breath and is very identifiable as a specific bardic word. A bard using words for a wonderful story, totally fine. Using it for horror stories, probably no okay. Sort of applies to bards using words on others, especially from hiding in town, or word of confidence without permission. Town is probably not a fan of the floating bags either. They float closely to people, and dodge any from grabbing the bag. It is affected by air flow. They distrust occult, but they aren't going to witch hunt sorcery. They don't trust it, don't get it, we don't understand. Natually the majority of people don't know what certain effects will have. They aren't going to take people down. It is a deliberate prejudice of the lore. tldr: Expect to get side eyed doing arcana, druidic stuff, and bardic words where there are crowds. Do it where there aren't. Bardic words are occult and could be bundled in with arcana.
Q: How does Shadgard feel in general about old-timey folk practices like bloodstopping, dowsing for water or minerals, or weather predictions based on animal behavior? How seriously do they take the A: You've got plenty of people who are going to do them, who think maybe this'll work. But it's not like everyone's all in. There are plenty of people are going to be doing it, accepting that there might be some validity to these folk practices. Its detractors will be saying "Ha yeah it's just a bunch of redneck hillbillies", etc. Shadgard isn't the most educated place around. We also have to keep in mind that maybe they really do work in this world; maybe there's some occult practice that works depending on the material.
Q: How does Stormholdt function? I always assumed they were almost like a mercenary company, but I can imagine holding a position in Mistral Lake and Shadgard could be difficult in that regard. Can we expect "kill" tasks and bounties from them in the future, and how does that work in regards to the factions? A: They are more of school than a mercanery group. Their students are often sought out for mercanery work. They probably got some kind of recruiter company that is there in Stormholdt. The company is doing contracts and this company hires those students. hiring mercs that come from stormbholdt but not duirection.
Q: How involved is the mining company in politics in Shadgard? A: That depends on who you ask! There are some people that would love to conspiracy theorize with you all night about how the mining company is puppet mastering everything in Shadgard. The mining company itself says "We're a mining company, and sure we'd love influence so we can make Shadgard a better place and stuff, but right now we're wealthy and we run the bank and the vault storage but aren't in politics." There are clear oppositions to block them from getting into government; there are people on the Council that are for the mining company, and those that are against it.
Q: How long ago did the landslide that blocked off the northern part of the lost lands from the southern part occur? Was it more than thirty years ago? Is there any means of entry from the outside into the northern bit? A: The landslides were there for game reasons between Mistral and Shadgard. That was there because the game area hadn’t been expanded. It should have been like it isn’t open yet. It shouldn’t be considered a part of the areas history. The game area hasn’t gone past this point yet. Probably wasn’t there long, maybe there are long as it has been there in the actual game. It wasn’t a major thing.
Q: How much of an area is going to be released with Caer Ioan? Is it going to be very limited, and built up like early Shadgard was in regards to zones, or will it be close enough that Shadgard/Caer Ioan people will share hunting grounds, even from as early on as 0 skil
Q: How's the education system in the major outposts? As in, Shadgard and Mistral. Do they have one? A: In Shadgard, there's probably a schoolhouse. He imagines it's more like picking things up as you go and apprenticing to people. In Mistral, they definitely have an established education system; it's not required, but the Dominion prides itself on spreading education, with a large portion of their people being literate and having a basic education. #DominionProsperity (The education level in Mistral Lake is higher than Shadgard. Shadgard is primarily practical education, apprentice-master education, NOT HICKS, ARGH.)
Q: Howard says, "How do the staff feel about character concepts in search or pursuit of things we ooc know don't exist? For example, a character obsessed with getting through the barrier in Shadgard or of finding certain remnents or objects associated with the gods."A:Rias exclaims, "I think that's fine, as long as the PC knows and the GMs know. We've had characters poke at the Barrier, seek a cure to the resen infestation, and even be intent on becoming an Ascended Immortal. I think it's good to let the GMs know that the player is pursuing this as their character while the player knows it isn't something they expect to just happen because their character wants it. That way it's perfectly clear and the GMs don't start to get the feeling a player might be acting entitled or have unreasonable expectations. IC-wise I think that stuff is a great thing to be driving a character and their thinking and decisions!" : Rias exclaims, "And hey, if we ever -do- have an event where the barrier cracks open, or some progress in the Resen cure is made, or glimpses of potential godhood are dangled - we know which characters to involve!"
Q: I don't want to get too technical, but recently in voice chat, we were discussing the gas pipelines in Shadgard. Those gas lines are the fuel for the streetlamps and the oven at the Hearth and Home. Is Shadgard using natural gas for that? How do most people in Shadgard feel about gas? A: It is natural gas and that is why the gas water tunnel is called the gaswater tunnel They think it is a nifty new thing that will help survive in this place and aren't leery.
Q: I know you expect Shadgard vs Dominion (Resistance vs Dominion TBC) to be one of the hooks of gameplay/storytelling. Do you have anything in mind as to how that is going to kick off? Let's see how things play out? Is there some idea of an arc as to how to get things into conflict? Are you thinking there will be an event for release, or will it be something more low-key, e.g. an invitation to XYZ and see how things pan out? A: It's going to start with just having people over there and just doing their thing normally. When it feels like it's ready enough, then when we want to ramp up the conflict we can kick it off. It will be clear when this happens, rather than just like "Okay here's your faction, off you go."
Q: I looked at some older posts where it was considered Porto would be the faction instead of Shadgard. What led to it being settled on Shadgard? The imbalance between Shadgard and the entire Dominion has been discussed in the past, and now that I know about this 'Republic of Exiles,' I'm curious why (if?) Porto was decided against. A: The other places were established and know what he could do with them and porto has a good amount of question marks about it that he needs to flesh out. Unfair for one faction to have sea access which is another reason emberlight is nice and between the lines and it is a port and doesn't want it to cut off from either faction
Q: I think the general understanding of laws in Shadgard is that if it happened outside the gatehouse, the authorities won't get involved. Am I correct in thinking this? Is this sort of mentality going to be similar for the Dominion outpost, Mistral? Can this be considered a reason for leaving for the Dominion, since the expectation is that they are far more strict about law and order? How would a player run group dedicated to executing vigilante justice for matters outside the gates of Shadgard be viewed by the town and the proper authorities? Or another way to phrase it would be what consequences can you think of that a group such as this might face? A: That's going to depend on the vigilante group. We had one in CLOK, some people thought they were awesome, some people hated them. It's just going to depend on what sort of impact they make; on the result from their actions. It's definitely a thing he could see happening in Shadgard. Someone mentioned shadgard outriders: that's one group. Shadgard aren't sweating over the fact they don't have legal jurisdiction outside of Shadgard though. If they actually want to do something about it they will. On the mistral side, it's all law and order supposedly. We also have the deliberate scenario where they have their hands full outside the playable area. They're busy elsewhere, they're stretched thin, so they're not this constantly present cracking down on everyone. They'd want to handle everything on their own, but because a lot of their manpower is essentially elsewhere they could contract out. He thinks mistral will have a similar system, it's going to depend on the scenario, results etc. If you killed someone out in Valeria, they might technically be a citizen but if they're not particularly known to them, it's going to be 'Sorry it's outside our jurisdiction.' If it was like, someone with a high standing in Mistral Lake, however, or someone who made a lot of donations, they might care a bit more and intervene.
Q: I understand that there is a narrative where Shadgard doesn't support sorcery. From a factions standpoint, the intent to have all the sorcerers move to the Dominion? Or would it be possible to be a known sorcerer but still welcome in the populace A: You're always going to have to watch yourself a bit, and be aware of prejudices, but yeah, it's possible. You just can't do your stuff within town. He imagines they're not going to be thrilled about having a bunch of warlocks hanging about in town, but it's not "get out of here you suck". Pretty much don't acknowledge that you're a sorcerer while in town, that will get you in trouble. It's not designed to be impossible to be a sorcerer aligned with shadgard, but yeah... it's meant to be a pain but not impossible. It would be cool to see someone play one. C: There are supposed to be shades in the mine! It's probably an oversight that they're not there: they'll be coming soon. Rias might conjure some miner explanation as to why they were roused.
Q: If you join the the opposing faction/Mistral, are you going to be shot with flintlocks if you enter Shadgard? Will I not be able to get those good flapjacks? A: The guards will stop you, but that is it. Being from an opposing town won’t be kill on sight, but they might not like you hanging outside the gates.
Q: Is it going to be fancier and more formal than Shadgard? A: It'll be the nicer place, relatively speaking. This is still the lost lands, still a place where its hard to find certain resources. It's not going to be like the fancy cities that you see in fantasy movies and TV shows, with polished marble etc. --- it's not that fancy, but it's the nicer place of the two. In Shadgard they're trying to be real about the fact that they're a bunch of survivalists in a post-apocalyptic world. They're not particularly concerned with things that aren't worth worrying about in that particular situation. Mistral is more concerned with making things look nice. There are higher social classes, people who dress fancy, etc. People in Shadgard would probably mock those people for that. So Mistral's the place to go if that's what you want, or to be upset with that kind of thing. It will be interesting to see people decide: is this meritless auithoritarian place somewhere that needs to be purged, or something that is considered worth it because it's a nicer place, despite the authoritarian stuff, because they have their version of order and peace. C: It's not necessarily always going to be a huge massive deep storyline. Sometimes scary stuff in the Lost Lands is just kind of scary stuff in the Lost Lands.
Q: Is there any plan to establish a justice system? How would that work, if so? I know we have a board for wanted posters, but is there a way for players to report crime? Do we have an end goal of how crime is meant to be handled? A: the automated one exists; very crude right now. can't make decisions on what seems reasonable or not, if the conditions are right you get accused for this crime. sometimes weird stuff happens, it'd be nice to make things nicer, but not a high priority. ideas for how to do that are always welcome. when it comes to non-automatic stuff, it's something we should probably have some kind of means for dealing with. on the other hand, they really don't want to be playing moderator constantly and settling these things all the time; can be extremely time consuming and crazy for them. e.g. you go into the wilderness, bob kills joe. joe goes into the sheriff, where'd it happen, outside redrock, oh sorry that's out of town limits. can't enforce justice outside of town limits. good to know if players report this maybe. if bob then keeps ganking people all the time... something will probably happen if he keeps hanging around shadgard. maybe need to expand mechanic to report thieves persistently, go into jailhouse etc.maybe ability to report crime, even if it wasn't against you. don't want people to feel helpless, having sponsored players that can act as militia can get really hairy really fast. the people that want in on it for the wrong reasons... it just gets really difficult. it comes with all sorts of issues both IC and OOC, accusations of nepotism etc. etc. might have to be a mechanic where you can come by and dismiss charges if the victim. thinking off the top of head.
Q: Is unguent in common use outside of the Lost Lands? A: Yeah and the fact that it works so well and quick is a game thing for game purposes. That isn't lore. Just like walking mistral to shadgard
Q: Marcuson asks (muffled by a mask), "Enjoying the festival so far! I've got two questions. Two are mine from the BBS thread, and two are from someone who couldn't make it. First question: Will the militia in Shadgard "know" who's nethertouched and automatically forbid them from entering the town, or will the nethertouched have to be discovered and then exiled?" A: Rias says, "Militia won't know if someone's Nethertouched or not. If they had a reason to be paranoid about specific people they might do something like "hang on, hold this iron pyramid real quick first" thing, but they don't have any innate nether-sense."
Q: Marcuson asks (muffled by a mask), "Hmm. Fair enough! At the Octum festival, one of the Immortal tattoo options seems like it shouldn't belong. Can you tell us something about that tattoo, or is it something we'll have to discover in-character?" A: Rias says, "Ooooh." Rias says, "I want to ask which one you mean, but I'm not sure if I should. But I knew when adding a couple of them that they would raise some eyebrows with their categorization. Also keep in mind the tattoo artists aren't authorities on Immortals or the categorization of entities." Rias says, "Also now I'm low-key worried that I accidentally added and ice cream cone to the Immortals section or something." Marcuson tee-hees. "No, nothing like that. It's a symbol of something that can be discovered not very far from Shadgard." Rias nods. Rias exclaims, "Okay, that's what I figured it was. It's supposed to be there!" Marcuson asks (muffled by a mask), "All right. Can you tell us about it and why it's there, or will we have to find out in-character?" Rias says, "I'll get either an NPC or some studyables to shed some more light on why some may be thinking that way." Rias wiggles his eyebrows. very far from Shadgard." Rias nods. Rias exclaims, "Okay, that's what I figured it was. It's supposed to be there!" Marcuson asks (muffled by a mask), "All right. Can you tell us about it and why it's there, or will we have to find out in-character?" Rias says, "I'll get either an NPC or some studyables to shed some more light on why some may be thinking that way." Rias wiggles his eyebrows.
Q: Marcuson asks, "With the advent of a certain foodstuff in Mistral Lake, it seems like the Dominion has pork from somewhere. The main meat available in Shadgard, apart from what hunters bring in, appears to be goat meat -- chevon. Could you tell us more about the differences in agricultural products between Shadgard and the Dominion?" A:Rias says, "We actually were just talking about that on the GM channel. I'm no culinary term expert, but may have them changed to "boar meat" if "pork" doesn't properly encompass that. (It's weird how some meats have their own terms and others are just "<animal> meat".)." Marcuson exclaims, "It is weird! A lot of cooking terms come from Norman influence and displaced Old English words. Swine, for instance, replaced by pig. And 'wild boar' as a phrase can even refer to the meat itself!" Rias says, "Aside from that, uh... mostly what you see in the local farm animal availability, and local hunting fauna. Which Mistral is still missing, yes, but boar will be out there."
Q: Might there be a faction for hunting sorcerers? A: He imagines it's possible, but they'd be considered an extremist group. They wouldn't be the Shadgard Outriders.
Q: Now that people have been booted from Shadgard, if they die, will their new body rise in Shadgard until a new location comes in? Does that mean they'll cause trouble breaking the law of not being allowed back in town? A: There are respawn spots outside town.
Q: Once people become citizens of Mistral Lake, will the long-distance tasks at Stormholdt reflect that, or will those tasks always potentially go back to Shadgard? Or will it be random between the two towns (along with the other destinations)? A: At the moment no but they need to be updated so it doesn't send you to places you can't no get to.
Q: Presently, Shadgard's Sheriff made a talk about how if people want to leave, that's fine, no hard feelings. But I also understand part of the intent of a second faction is to facilitate CvC. Is there a plan for some inciting event between the two such that the result is war? Or will it be small-scale skirmishes over resources without anything official? More practically, will players from either side be allowed to roleplay with each other? Visit each other in their home cities? Or will there, at some point, be a situation where members of faction A will be shot on sight at faction B's headquarters and fraternizing is treason? A: The sheriff could be coming saying something tolerant and understanding but could also be interpreted as don’t like the town, get the hell out. He would rather the interpretation of it be open ended. Intent is for character to develop and clash over cvc zones or resources in an organic, progression over time way, not something specifically directed. The new faction of Caer Ioan is growing and also unknown and they haven't had enough time to grow opinions to be at each other's throats. It isn't' 24/7 kill on sight aggression, more a mix and natural flow of characters rp. Shadgard doesn't know enough about Caer Ioan to hate them but they are sus about the nether and have a negative view of them in those regards. No they won't visit the town at all. There will be outposts and unless someone gives a reason, the intent isn't for a person to be shot on sight, you just can't go through the gate. Attack guards or city then yes they will be attacked on sight for getting bad faction rep. They might not like spies sitting outside the gate (wrote this next to another gate question about getting shot too) He isn't cutting the factions off from one another (can’t rp then) Character’s could hang out as they wish.
Q: Regarding how much skin the druid tattoos do cover, more in terms of wondering if there's space for other tattoos at all or if other tattoos interfere with/wouldn't be able to avoid covering druid tattoos. Or if it varies by the design or something. And then what kinds of designs PC druids would most likely have if they received their tattoos after coming to the Shadgard area, or if that tends to vary based on different factors. A: They tattos don't don't the entire body and leave plenty of room for other tattoos. Assume they are going to fit and don't hold back because of the druidic tattoos. The druidic tattoos are not a continuing line and is kind of broken up and work with each other still.
Q: Since (literal) bells are used for time-keeping, are these cast bells in a belltower, or a crier's handbell? If the former, are they rung manually, or are they clockwork? Could they be used by players to signal a threat, or announce a great occasion? A: There is a bell at the shadgard town hall. We don't let people because they would be annoying
Q: So you don't expect faction conflict to be a thing immediately, but built up to? A: Yeah, but if people have personal reasons why they might conflict that's okay. They can have their own reasons even if it might not be a faction thing right now. Shadgard's leery of the dominion and they don't want to be absorbed, but they're not overly hostile to eachother. It would be nice to have a build-up, an organic thing: they did this thing we don't like, and now they've done this and we're really starting to get annoyed.
Q: Someone was saying the people of Shadgard have a strong sense of self-preservation because of -fear-, is that accurate? A: That's pretty fair to say about anyone who has a sense of self-preservation. Shadgard isn't a place that's based on fear-based hate, though some people do exist that are that way in Shadgard; they'll exist in Caer Ioan as well. You will find people in Shadgard who ostracize things out of fear, most definitely. Neither is based around this, however, and it's not a primary focus.
Q: Speaking to Rias, Lexx asks, "Shadgard question! In the past, you've indicated that Shadgard might get a faction-exclusive Society, similar to how the Harbingers are exclusive to Mistral. Is that still the case, and if so are you still considering the anti-nethrim society to be Shadgard-exclusive (or, at least, barred from Mistral), or something else at this point? Also, any general updates re: societies overall?" A: Rias says, "No progress on Societies in general, sadly. The anti-nethrim society does seem like it would be a good fit for the Shadgard yin to the Mistral Harbingers yang. Beyond that I haven't had any inspiration for any other Societies that would be Shadgard exclusive."
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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Teri
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Shadgard part 2

Post by Teri »

Shadgard part 2

Q: Traitress asks, "As a new player I am confused about the legality and social acceptability of magic. Sorcery is obviously illegal and anyone who messes with it is at least a little bit crazy, but so far I don't think I've met anyone who didn't assure me that Arcana and Druidry were actually totally kosher and anyone who thinks otherwise is being quaint. Is this just a case of a few players accidentally creating the illusion of global consensus in Shadgard? How much do the NPCs care, and to what degree do they outnumber the (mostly) Undying adventurers?"A: Rias says, "Sorcery is the only thing that's outright illegal-without-question in Shadgard. As in, you channel it, you're now being sought for arrest."Rias says, "However, the occult in general is met with wariness." Traitress says, "So Arcana is like being a satanist in the 90s rather than the 1690s." Rias says, "Drawing occult circles in town is going to potentially raise eyebrows and concerns, because the vast majority of Shadgard citizens, including peacekepeers/law enforcement, have no way of knowing what that circle is going to do." Rias says, "Not to mention that the occult and supernatural are just weird and spooky and potentially unpredictable." Rias says, "Druidry is similarly unsettling but not outright illegal. Stuff like walking around with great big claws, or powers that sap vitality from any nearby animals, might start making it onto new law bills though if they're just casually being thrown around within town."
Q: Was Shadgard around during the Aetgard Kingdom days, or was it founded post-plague? A: It was a curiosity during Aetgard, a small settlement that popped up around an inn for people who came to see a statue and the cliff dwellings and stuff. It wasn't a whole lot more than that, but people eventually gravitated towards it post-plague Aetgard for safety.
Q: What about garrisons? A: They'd be both a riln sink and something people can apply their skills to. There might be also opportunities (very specific, not freeform), places to build a sawmill --- a facility out somewhere that would make it easier to process trees. He would want it so that everyone has a thing they can contribute to, so that when something gets destroyed they might actually care and react; something players can get personally invested in. It doesn't have have to always be Mistral vs. Shadgard, there could be NPC factions involved. C: He probably wants to keep the Shadgard church pretty humble. He wants donations to be about *donations*, ideally, not about the mechanical perks for it. It would be an interesting experiment to turn off the benefit to see how many people would still donate.
Q: What are the chances of being a resistance member as a PC in the Mistveil Dominion? A: It could be cool, interesting thing as something you would work your way into. At the same time, he wouldn't want someone to recruit like, 10 people and constantly screw up what's technically their own faction. It would be cool to have characters that work their way into it. There could be a scenario where you're part of the resistance now, so you have access to this resistance area now, ah, cool. One thing: if you're doing this, it would have to be like, you're part of the resistance but you're not going around telling everyone. If you do that and you're known, it would be goodbye. You're going to have to be fairly subtle about this. He would hope that they aren't just going out into the square saying "Sheeple! Take off your shackles and attack Mistral guards!" There's going to have to be some subtlety and restraint to resistance stuff; the factions are going to notice if you're killing people who are acting in their interests. C: He doesn't really want people joining Mistral just because they have e.g. iron in their home town and Shadgard don't. He would want people making decisions based on aesthetics; there will be niceties but not requirements for any one skill, role or craft. C: Helping your faction as a player would be more a Faction task than a Guild task. C: Re: Guild tasks, one of the things (pipedream territory) he really wants to do is allow warriors of a certain rank and reputation to be mini-warleaders. They would lead groups of NPCs out and fight.
Q: What are the policies and beliefs of the government of Shadgard? In particular, as regards sorcery and druidry. A: A lot of the fear of these things is more on the citizenry; there are those on the Council who definitely fan those flames and use them to their advantage, obviously, but there are also those on the Council who want to treat these individuals as human beings. Most acknowledge that Nether (and thus, Sorcery) is a scary power that seeps into creatures, people, plants, rocks, and changes them. They simply do not want it happening inside of town. A2: Druidry is similar but on a lesser level. The more people come back and sell Wechuge pelts and talk about how Wechuge are made, it builds fear up in the citizenry. They aren't yet at the point of kicking people out for tattoos. It is, however, safe to RP about getting looks or citizens feeling uncomfortable around you for having Druid tattoos or using your abilities in-town. A3: Arcanists haven't gone under the microscope as much, and people don't consider it as much, though they might not appreciate someone drawing glyphs on the ground or something. They don't know how glyph-working works, after all. It's still in the realm of 'We Don't Get It' and 'It hasn't had any visible (that we see) adverse effects on things.'
Q: What do shadgard dwellings look like? A: Rough. They're timber structures, mainly made out of wood, maybe clay. They're not trying to make things look nice around there. Sure, at least some of them take pride in their buildings but they're not particularly fancy. There are *some* homes built into the walls of the canyon but not many. C: Avery wisely keeps his address unlisted.
Q: What do you think about message boards in outposts? A: That could work. It's on the wary list, but just having a postboard would be fine. There is a postboard in the warriors guild in shadgard now! Just so people know.
Q: What is the Woodland Preservation Act referenced in the sawmill sign? A: That's just a thing Shadgard came up with as a means to not over forest their area. It was done as a result of some people in the druid community/eco-warriors/rich people who like fancy people, and possibly Dunwyr Fear not wanting ire. It's also a nice way to impose fines. Capitalism! (However, it is not mechanically enforced.)
Q: What sorts of recreational activities do you envision folks in the Lost Lands mostly pursuing? What about Arad, as a larger whole? Do they place chess, checkers? Any particular kinds of card games that are preferred? etc. A: Rias is not really much of a cards player in real life. We have the decks of cards in-game, he imagines they do a lot of that, and dice, and the kind of traditional board games like chess, checkers, backgammon. Rias is wondering about what sportsy stuff people might do, lately, but confesses he doesn't want to think about it too hard right now. He imagines there are shooting/marksmanship competitions. Shadgard has a rodeo! (Still need to make a rodeo ground). Horseshoes would be good! We could do corn hole (throw the beanbag in the hole) [T: I have literally never heard of this] or maybe arm wrestling would be fun.
Q: What's south of the valley where the farmlands are? A: It's a narrow small-ish valley surrounded by high mountains. It's just mountains that are getting higher and higher south and east of Shadgard.
Q: Who are the Shadgard Outriders, and are there any ways that they differ from the Outriders from The Other Game? A: They're just a concept at this point that Rias may never let people join. They may be eventually as an NPC-run company or supplemental faction or something, but they likely won't be a Society. They're a group of hardcore people who are controversial in taking frontier justice into their own hands; some people love them, some people think they're complete and utter nutcase psychopaths, killing people.
Q: Who runs the Hanged Man? A: Someone comfortable with Shadgard and being next to it. They're not connected to the whole central heating shebang though. For now, it's a place where you can stay if you get kicked out of town. If you *really* get on the wrong side of Shadgard and are undermining/attacking them directly, that might mean you can't stay in the Hanged Man either, however. They have an agreement with the town. Moreover, it may be that rentable rooms there are removed once Mistral Lake is released --- he's not sure yet.
Q: Will Mistral have the same newbie tasks and starting experience as Shadgard? i.e. spawning in the inn, and if so, does that mean people will choose during character creation? Or will they start off neutral and travel to a town to be in-citizened, possibly with an initiation like quiz? A: Right now the goal is choose on character creation than rather start always in Shadgard just to join with equivalent starts
Q: Will players be able to influence (not join/lead) the government of Shadgard? e.g. vote in an election between two or more NPCs? A: Yeah, he thinks that would be fun! He's been working on the code side of things for so long that he misses being able to have NPCs show up for exactly those sorts of things, learning about them and going to Town Hall meetings and stuff. He wants players to be able to influence things one way or another.
Q: Will there be more places added later? A: He doesn't want people spreading out, so it'll be centralized to Shadgard and NotShad.
Q: Will things be illegal eventually? A: Yes, eventually if you do sorcery in Shadgard with an NPC crowd/people who can see you, they'll report you. Eventually. How does going to jail & reporting stuff works? Is there in-game justice system? Currently if you do something that triggers a crime report in the game, depending on circumstances (like against an NPC), they'll report you or call for militia depending on the room they're in. Militia will keep coming to a maximum of possibly 6. Gate guards are also notified. That means fleeing is hard. If you catch someone fleeing from you, there's nothing in place right now other than screaming about it to the rest of Shadgard. Does he intend for the Sheriff's stuff to be open for that?Maybe. He thinks there should be some sort of report thing.
Q: Without OOC information, is it possible to predict or manipulate the place someone might come back after death? For example, could someone make it so that inmates of a prison popped into existance...back in there cells? Or, is the place people come back just supposed to be somewhere in the area, but you abstract it to a few locations in game for ease of not being naked on the streets and what not? A: It's not something that can be controlled. He is honestly working some of that stuff out, it's kind of hand-wavey at the moment due to some lore stuff. At least with what he's currently got lore-wise, it's weird that people are showing up back in Shadgard.
Q: You ask, "From bbs: I'm pretty sure none of the Mistral guards are up for talking, and that's pretty reasonable. Will we ever be able to talk to Samia or Cassidy more extensively, or to the two other nameless blokes who recently popped up around Shadgard?" A: Rias says, "Getting to the next question... Samia and Cassidy will probably one day be more talkative. Cassidy more than Samia. The other guards placed in there are just a rotation of militia." Rias exclaims, "And I do plan to add a personality-having guard or two in Mistral as well, once I have the time. But part of Mistral's "feel" is also that less-personable cold and orderly place. Shadgard is where you go if you want to be on first-name basis with your town guards, your physicker, the store owners, the guy you send your tool repairs to... it's the small-town town!"
Q:Lore Question: In Kiki's head, they were thinking that the premise is that Shadgard is not cool with nether. Under this assumption, isn't there a connection between sorcery and nether? Under this assumption, wouldn't Shadgard have an issue with the Library who openly teach sorcery? A: Shadgard probably does have lots of people shaking their head at the Library (and also they aren't huge fans of druids, because the occult is spooky AF). - Where is the line? "Don't bring that stuff in town and we're fine"? They're shaking their heads and getting on your case, because ew nether (just saying, gross), but on the other hand, they're not just saying "Anyone going to this school where they teach sorcery sometimes to some people should be stabbed." Partially because they also need the knowledge from that place (i.e. needing Physickers). Keep your filthy nether out of their town, gat dangit. If Shadgard just wants their druids/sorcerers to not do stuff in town, where is there difference in beliefs? If they had other options, they might boycott the Library. The Library is neutral, it doesn't care. Allows for some interesting RP.
Q:When CvC gets implemented, how will the search work at the border? Will raiding parties going for the town to flip it be subjected to a search, or will they have to fight through the border station? A: If they get to the point of hostility, have to fight through the fort. Mistral has more defences currently. Might change if Shadgard get gets more defences if they join Republic or something else. Tougher place to go guns blazing. Shadgard is not a big city. It is a survior outpost town in the lost lands not multi settlement conglomerate like the Dominion. It is supposed to feel lesser in that scale but that doesn't mean Rias wants them to get their butts kicked all the time. If hostiles try to walk the canyon, they will have issues. Arrow slits will be for any who want to defend but don't want to get wrecked in outright combat or have less combat skills. Now if the gate is overrun.. different story.
Q:You say, "Delphine: Okay, a non-Kurn-related question at last: with you having recently mentioned upon the Discord that we'll be going toward a proper faction split soon (tm), I have a concern. We have a really great community, but people can get a bit... silly on games (in my experience) when they feel like there's something to lose (like access to a resource, etc.) Have you all considered how to combat any potential OOC shenanigans which might occur as a result of pending faction conflict? What I mean by that is let's say Bob from Mistral Lake is poking about the Dominion-held iron mine when suddenly a group of Shadgardians rides in, pistols blazing! Bob is outside of an esp zone so he has no way to call for help! So he fires up Discord and lets his group of OOC Dominionite buddies know that the mine is under attack and he's desperately outnumbered and they all proceed to rally to his aid without there being any IC information having been shared. I know there's no way to keep people from doing this. People are going to chat to their friends. People will let things slip either intentionally or unintentionally. It happens. I'm just curious if the GM team has considered new policies to put in place to perhaps... deter it." A: Rias says, "That's not something we've really delved into or talked about, but we probably should. It'd be good to have a policy in place." You nod, "This sounds like a good BBS topic. I'll note that down, if you like." Rias says, "Policy: Don't be a goober pea." Rias nods to you.
Q. How does a citizen of shadgard report a crime within the town? A: He needs to set up some kind of thing for it and somehow avoid headache of false reports and there will be a limit or the sheriff will go you are wasting our time. To start, maybe a mailbox to send mail to. Unsigned letters will be ignored.
- Most immigrants to the Lost Lands come in through Porto D'esilio, but some come in from other ports.
C: The sea at New Emberlight does go to the ocean. It comes in a good amount towards the centre of the continent but you can still go a good distance west from New Emberlight. It's not like there's a big shelf where the western end of the continent is. C: One of these days will have to make a map.
Q: I was contemplating Lapis: The Last Vestige of Aetgard while shelving, and wanted to ask: what are the arcana practices currently like in Lapis? A: Not sure. He will have to look at that. [T: I think it was said that characters can't really know, since Lapis are isolationists, but that's likely understood already]
Q: Once we have mutually exclusive factions, will there be any public boards accessible to both, or will all boards effectively be faction-only? A: Might makes sense to have one in Emberlight. Sort of neutral spot. Does like adventurer guild spots than one central spot. Might import treehouse
Q: Speaking to Rias, Saladbowl asks, "First: is Lapis germanic? Second, which has probably been answered before, but I cannot find where: what is your stance on lore suggestions?" A: Speaking to Saladbowl, Rias says, "First: Not really. I think maybe I gave a lore name or two that would suggest as much? But I do want to avoid worrying unintentional parallels that could be made." Saladbowl says, "No messers, damnit." Speaking to Saladbowl, Rias says, "Second: I don't mind lore suggestions, though I admit a hesitance to utilize them as I prefer things to be mine. I have run with some suggestions in the past, though. I would say feel free to give them, but I prefer more basic level conceptual suggestions than detailed essays."
Q: The emberlight, blackwater, valeria area is an esp dead zone currently - might there someday be a new ESP area that covers some/all of those locations?A: Could be. Zones are in a minimal stage right now and will see some growth in additional zones.
Q: Treasury vault in stormholt? Task riln went there and no idea where it is. A: He needs to add a way to make withdrawals but not deposits for Stormholdt, New Emberlight, etc. This comes into play if you don't have space on your person for more riln. (Has since been added)
Q: What is the story behind the Phoenix Court in New Emberlight? Why is it the one area least touched by pirates and the like. A: He'll have to have an NPC come talk about it sometime.
Q: You mentioned before, but could you re-outline your plans for banks in Stormholdt And Emberlight? A: They technically have "banks", just for tasks (when you don't have room for payment, it goes to your treasury account there). They don't actually have one, the treasury works for dealing with outlying issues like that, it's not an actual bank. Occasionally funds will go in there, but you couldn't deposit or exchange riln for notes &c. Rias didn't love the idea of people living in outposts in CLOK (people had nothing happening out there, and it was tough to keep up with events with players in so many places at once. He wants there to be reasons for people to stick together as much as possible.
Q: As far as the faction split when it occurs, where will it occur? A: It'll occur at the fort in the pass, most likely. (TM).
Q: How will account locking work?A: You can still have characters that belong to different factions, you just can't have characters from different factions active at the same time.
Q: Rocode says, "Someone in VC mentioned the issue of training when locked out of a town, and I am sure this has been brought up before, but has players training other players been suggested before? Perhaps only people considered to be a 'Master' of a specific skill, i.e. 700 skill, and can only train up to 400 or so? Would encourage interaction between players and provide reasons to seek out others in your vocational guild or faction." A: Rias says, "PCs training other PCs could be fun. We had it in The Other Game, and I'm sure we could figure out some way to make it work reasonably over here, too." Speaking to Rias, Fellborn says, "Only if it still ends up being a riln sink." Rias says, "I wouldn't want it to be a viable replacement of NPC trainers. I'd want some kind of limitations in place. But it's something to think about that I think could be pretty cool."
Q: So, as a school, they've kind of got a functioning castle that actually seems to "block" out some sort of threat. See the portcullis. Is that out of some underlying faction decision, or just happen-stance? A: It is a strategic point and Storm is it's own entity and things they are doing in addition to teaching. They have people with purposes and one of those purposes is guarding the pass and the students are often able to help defend it and be employed if it ever comes under attack. He isn't going yet.
Q: What's the vision for high level construction? A: Rias would like them to have more to do than just build farming structures. He dislikes the idea of freeform construction (just building whatever, wherever) which would be chaotic and messy, but he's open to ideas for new feature suggestions. There are plans already, with the faction content, to make it possible to construct/repair barricades, town walls and improve defences. These are easily managed because they're in designated places. Structure durability is something Rias wants to have, in order to make sure construction workers continue to be useful/have something to do.
Q: Where are we on contested zones, can we expect this to be live once the factions go hostile? A: he hasn't done any actual work on that beyond the garrison type thing so that will take a while to work.
Q: Will extremely anti-civilized societies or factions open up, like the Dunwyr or Hyra? A: If you mean by open-up like be joinable, no. They'll be around, and be doing stuff, the Dunwyr in particular because they like to go out and cause trouble. Those will never be joinable, though, they really aren't the types to take in new members who aren't born into the fold.
Q: Will we see more activity from the Rook Parlour? I would be interested to see them work more with Warlocks, I would also like to see them more active in the world, just to see their activities like before in CLOK. A: He would love to involve them more as a group and see them mentioned doing things here or there, not fade into the backacground. That they were an important thing in other game and would like have them actively involved in other things. Not to join as a society or get powers, but more as a faction people could get involved or be associated with. To be able to learn about their lore, ask their npcs questions.
Q: You've released your first open CVC zone; can you tell us anything about it? How would PCs claim it beyond clearing it out? A: "You'd have to clear it out first, then you'd have to go to your faction's command center or whatever and report that it's ready to be taken now and they'll start sending faction NPCs to try and take it over. The hope is that it will require stocking them up with food and gear and stuff so the crafters have stuff to do also, then once they're stocked they'll go take it over. Then depending on what gear they're supplied, it will potentially affect the mobs who show up." Will there be warnings if someone starts to attack your claimed CVC zone or will it be ninja'd?"There'll be an alert system. There might be options for stealth characters to go in and remove a communications based guy that would delay the alert without immediate response, but it's cool to have an alert system so people can participate."
Q: Does Arbjartr have any lore behind it? A: Yes. No, we will not learn about it yet. Yes, it is still an island.
Q: Would Parrens have any other languages they lean towards, apart from common? A: No, not really. Nothing in particular. It's such a hub that it's pretty much everything's going on over there. They don't have a particular tendency towards anything. Also remember: Parren is a homeland, not a race, and anyone from there can be called Parren.
Q: Lexx asks, "What's the general sort of climate of Parr? Any notable exports, or specifically cool geographical features?" A: Rias says, "Parr is three main islands, and lots of surrounding smaller ones. I'd say it's subtropicalish. It's not all palm trees and straight up Caribbean. Exports, uh... rain check. You people and exports! I imagine they have some local resources to export but it's really more about being the big international trade hub (and where trade rules are more like trade guidelines...)."
Q: What ports or types of cities are along Khaldea's coastline? A: He's still plotting out exactly where the 7 cities are. At least two of those are going to be on the coast. It's an ideal place to have a city, for trade etc. He imagines there are a few smaller settlements along the coast as well.
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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Teri
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Caer Ioan

Post by Teri »

Caer Ioan



-Change from Caer Ioan to Mistral announcement. The whole Caer Ioan thing had an interesting reception, and the feeling that Rias got was -- first of all, he knows we're excited about the faction stuff, it isn't going away, but it seemed like the general consensus was that, "Oh, okay. So people are excited to go to the other faction, but everyone's like OK, Alorin is insane but I still want to go to Caer Ioan." and this was both largely player views and also character views. So, he wondered if maybe it was too niche in that regard based on Alorin's talking points and things that were discussed by her. There were also some concerns about conflict, which people seem interested in the concept of the conflict and people were excited and stuff, and there were concerns about why are these two factions aggressive toward each other. The more he thought about it, it does feel like he's trying to come up with reasons to justify the conflict, and it didn't seem like it was flowing well. The underlying reasons weren't solid and weren't resonating with people; people seemed to want to see how stuff would play out but weren't interested in participating with the whole Nethery stuff, there was no drive to be part of it. Because of that, Caer Ioan won't be the other primary faction; it will still exist and be there and have its purposes and feel, it'll be an outpost instead and you'll have to work your way in with them because they're insular and stuff. They'll still get involved with things and you can still befriend them and stuff, and it will house a society (we'll also have Morhollow, which will house the Wyrvardn). Instead, we're going to have Mistral Lake as the other faction, and the Dominion; this will work better because it's going to be a lot more natural, the Dominion is an established place, and Mistral Lake is already built out and exists. It has an established place in the lore, and the conflict will be a lot more believable. You have the Dominion who are there taking over land and conquer and force their ways on others, compared to Shadgard who are firmly against these views and resist them expanding, and don't want to be assimilated, they want to be free and independent. Obviously Shadgard on its own, they can't defend against the Dominion, Shadgard is small compared to the Dominion who have a standing army and multiple settlements, but the Dominion is all the way in the north and somewhat overextended. They can't just send their army to conquer Shadgard because they're trying to maintain their holdings up north, so it will really be the players vs. the players instead of having the Dominion sending their armies down. The Dominion is a large faction relative to the Lost Lands, but it is still a Lost Lands faction; they don't have countless armies or power, but they aren't a huge empire or army. They are not Rome. They want to be Rome, but they are not yet Rome. Don't overestimate their size! The Dominion is mostly north of the playable area, and where the forces are concentrated, outside of player-accessible areas. Both factions will have NPC support during conflict as well. Part of this also includes that Shadgard cannot stand against the Dominion. When the Dominion wants to go to the south, Shadgard cannot stand against them by themselves; it would be a Hail Mary kind of thing. While the Dominion thinks they aren't particularly interested in the south, they may at some point change their mind. As Shadgard sees them showing more interest, this may push Shadgard into reconsidering their involvement with the Republic of Exiles; Rias really wants to get the Republic more involved and have more of a presence, because the Dominion really has far more presence and acknowledgment. It will still be more personal Shadgardians vs. Mistfolk, there will also be opportunities for much larger conflicts between the Republic and the Dominion. He doesn't want it to ever overshadow Shadgard and Mistral Lake as their own thing, but he would like to be able to bring in the larger factions to do things sometimes. Other things that influenced this decision: Clok still existed, and he didn't want Cogg to be a carbon copy of Clok; the absence of Clok makes him less hesitant to bring stuff from Clok into Cogg. He doesn't want to lose those things, and he does get permission from the builders of areas in Clok to add them to Cogg. Now that it's shut down, he wants to bring more things into Cogg because he misses a lot of those things, and wants to allow others to experience them as well. TL;DR, Caer Ioan will be an outpost that people can visit and will still have a place in the world and people can still get "in" with them and be friends with them, and it's a base for a society. The new prime faction area is Mistral Lake, backed by the Dominion.
Q: Can we ask questions about Caer Ioan? How do they feel about the Pumpkin King, pumpkin lanterns, or Octum in general? A: They will have similar stuff going on; he won't go into details because it's fairly unknown still.
Q: Have the plans for releasing Caer Ioan been pushed back since the pivot to the dominion as the secondary faction? A: Yeah.
Q: How do the Tse Gaiyan in the Lost Lands feel about nether corruption? Would it be a compromise/pragmatic action on their part if they were to align themselves with Caer Ioan? A: He thinks that Tse Gaiyan see it as a useful countermeasure/tool. They aren't fanatics about it, but he could see some wanting to seek out being nethertouched so they can go into infested areas without concern. Some might even encourage their peers to seek out useful levels of it, but the Tse Gaiyan aren't specifically pro-Sorcery/Nether or fanatics for it as a tool.
Q: Is it going to be more obvious that The Other Town will be Bad People (also), because we have the delightful zealot who's preaching that Caer Ioan, right now, is idyllyic happy-go-lucky tolerance land. A: Rias thinks most people are picking up on that now, that this is the spin she's putting on it. They do have this kind of approach: come to Caer Ioan, we'll love you and appreciate you, and treat you well! But they may or may not be doing questionable shiz also.
Q: Is this Caer Ioan like the Corvus of Clok? I'm sort of getting that vibe except for the fact its public. A: rough analogue and it is the spooky place you can go to and the ‘I'm a dark evil character’ will be more at home there. Same kind of feel as Corvus but it is its own unique place.
Q: Last-minute question (can save for next week if we go late): You mentioned the assassins having a higher purpose, not just being mercenaries. Is there something about that which can be shared, for those that might want to start considering whether to roleplay their character's path in that direction? A: Nothing he wants to say yet but societies are high on the list after Caer Ioan so hopefully you will be getting some information about it soonish
Q: Obvious question for me is, would we be able to ally with rebel forces within that place, rather than ally with the Dominion directly? A: He doesn't want to split the player base up more than half, so there won't be more than two factions for now. If it evolves that way, or the player base grows large enough, maybe. People set on leaving already, you can go to the Dominion. Caer Ioan will make a statement about how they felt that Alorin's campaign was responded to by others.
Q: These have maybe been answered elsewhere. There are many forum posts, so it's likely I missed it. Given the proximity of Caer Ioan's release (I believe?), it may still be appropriate to ask:
Q: Will neither touched still come with Caer Ioan? A: Yeah. It'll come out around the same time as Caer Ioan; Caer Ioan will be the place for people specifically seeking out becoming nether-touched, definitely. That won't be exclusive to Caer Ioan, however; you can become nether-touched in other places.
Q: Will nethertouched be coming with Caer Ioan, or a bit further down the priority list? A: Probably not at the direct release of Car Loan, but it'll follow fairly soon after, yes. It's a big part of their Thing.
Q: Will the Harbingers be housed in Caer Ioan or will that be a separate society? A: TBA. Harbingers will, at the very least, have a place to do their thing and hang out and get tasks and stuff in the Dominion; the Dominion is supportive of the Harbingers, they're happy to employ those types of folks in their work and certain Harbingers also make excellent agents to go out and put the fear of the Dominion into people (like the Harbingers of Aranas).
Q: Will we see the other sentient mob things hinted about previously, or is that going away with Caer Ioan's faction status? A: We'll still see potentially possible things that the question-asker is asking about.
Q: With Caer Ioan involving afflictions as a major part of their current advertisement, how far away are afflictions implementation-wise? There was some talk on chat about the plan having changed over time, so what is the current design goal for them? Are they something to be strictly avoided and inevitably lead to character loss? Are they something some characters might want to pursue (as a certain NPC implies)? Does it differ depending on the affliction? A: It definitely differs. The one that is most likely to be sought out is Nether-tainted/touched, it is still going to have negatives; they may have positives, but they will definitely have negatives, which will become worse as it settles into your character. Part of it will involve finding ways to manage it and keep it in check. Rias will never just take your character away, there will be a clear OOC message saying 'If you don't handle this, you risk losing your character.' so there will be options. A2: The others, he's still wringing his fingers over whether he wants to introduce them or not. They damage/affect the mind a lot more, which is harder to police; Rias could tell people the Resen is telling them to do X, but it doesn't mean the player will, which becomes difficult. These afflictions take away player agency, which is hard to pull off/execute for players. So Maybe? Maybe-Probably to some degree, because he likes to see us suffer and give us RP avenues.
Q. 2. If this was asked i might have missed it, plus knowing rias its a i dont want to talk about it much but what are Caer Ioan views on the Exiles of Republic? A: 2. The npc did have a few things to say about it but generally they don't love the Rep. They feel a lot of the type of people in CI are ones even the Republic doesn't want around and they are not besties. They aren't at open war or anything either. They view the Republic as just another faction screwing over or mistreating people and not giving people the rights they feel they deserve.
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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Teri
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Races Faewyr, Fasa and Hillfolk

Post by Teri »

Races




Assorted world/culture questions
- LORE: what do cultures eat in their native countries? Rias will need to stew on that one
Q: Are there any particular accents you've imagined for different areas of the world? (Subnote: Please make Rias do accents for us). A: Yes, but maybe one day a document for real world accents.
Q: Do other parts of the world with more ability to produce steel use it for building? A: Yes, probably.



Faewyr

-Giganti: They kind of know what's up for themselves so they don't think about other Immortals much. If they had tendency to respect others, it'd be Bogvaskr (who is also associated with the Faewyr). Also Vodr, despite him being Gone. Diminished. Diluted. Dead? Giganti also have a thing for Naia somewhat, and Nereia if they're Rullendbolg even though she's not native to them.
Q: What do Ythwyr brands look like? A: He's not sure on that one yet; he's thought about it but doesn't like any ideas right now. Right up there with the republic flag.
Q Tattoo-related question: is there anything to be said about the use and perception of tattoos outside of the cultures that have specific meanings (Faewyr brands, Fasa clans, druid bond-tattoos)? A: Not really. Viali could be uppity about non members wearing them but not really issues about it.
Q: Also is that non-playable race that has a continent all to themselves still a thing on cogg? A: Yeah. Angawatu to the southwest that hate the Faewyr because they always messs with them. The raiders always target them. They have a whole fear of the sea in general, but the sea is their version of the underworld. Monsters and demons. Not a place they go if they can avoid. They do have ships. There are rumors they are very rich, reputation wise, cities paved with precious stones tales. It is is a nice place.
Q: Are the Faewyr known for particular animal spirits or is it varying based on clan or some such thing? A: All of the above. With the Faewyr they have a thing for wolf spirits the origin mythology spirits are the ones that gave them their chance to not be eaten into extinction the culture has a respect for wolves. Beyond that it will be vary on clan and individual. It's also going to be particularly affected by geography. There isn't just one spirit, there are multiple spirits and ones with ranges of influence. North would be different from the south. Theya re not universal or omnipresent and it varies on a lot of factors. Of course, you have the great bear spirit is a big, respected kind of group and is one of the more well-known ones. And to that note a lot of time people into Faewyr stuff it gives people the freedom to say their clans spirit was the big you can't pick a wrong one. It will vary. geo, clan, individual and person experience outside the clan.
Q: Are the Faewyr on their own little island? Why did they expand to make Aetgard, to escape something, for more resources, to explore? A: They're on their own continent, Tyr-Gwyrd; it's like Australia, an island continent. Tyr-Gwyrd is the continent itself, there are the Twelve Realms, which are different kingdoms upon the continent. Tyr-Gwyrd is pronounced, officially, "tear-weird".
Q: Are there any cultural or regional Octum rites, practices, and observances outside of the Lost Lands you could share with us? A: Most of the Octum stuff we have is contemporary and surviving lore in Aetgard. I think that is mostly localized to lost lands and Aetgard than bringing things in from other lands. But what that stuff is needs to be hammered out for stuff from other cultures. A lot of their lore and traditions is amalgamation of other cultures stuff. It was a melting pot place. It was strongly tied to Faewyr lore as the kingdom grew it drew things from the people moving there. Might be a bit on the wiki. After the tyrant king did all he could during his crusade it ended badly for him. Once he bad his supporters were defeated the kingdom was in a bad way and it was a polarizing thing. The next ruler decided to adapt a bunch of beliefs and merge them. This is for everyone kind of thing to try to get everyone to not worry about repeating the same or being a warlord to target one particular group and kill them. Embrace all the things we celebrate and acknowledge everything
Q: Are there broadly itinerant groups besides the Fasa? A: There are some in Khaldea. He imagines there are a good number of Faewyr that move around. Both in Tyr Wyrd and over in Arad. They're definitely more prone to wandering, but not as much as the Fasa (obviously it's a thing of theirs). He imagines there are some groups of Hillfolk that do the same.
Q: Besides Naia-Nereia-Vodr-Iarel?, what are some other prominent relationship ties between immortals? A: Not exactly families, but the Faewyr have Vodr and Undm and Bogvasker and Aphraen being very close in their culture. They view them as the First Human-Adjacent/Appreciating Humanity Immortals. Vodr and Undm especially, and then the other two. They might be family, they might not be; could be homebros, we don't really know. Other than that, not particularly.
Q: Bonehead asks, "I was wondering, for question 1, if old Aetgard had a generalized faith anyone remembers. And question 2 is, what's the deal with the Unified holy Pantheon?" A: Rias says, "The Unified Holy Pantheon is kind of the answer to 1. They've tried their best to mash the majority of faiths/religious beliefs together as best they can. Some are in it for spiritual reasons, others more out of scholarly interests, and some for both of course. But Aetgard did have significant influence from Faewyr spiritual beliefs from the very start, and later got a bump of Viali ones from a large migration that brought that with them." Rias says, "After jolly old Gudleifr and the fallout that came after his bloody campaign of going back to the Old Ways, there were a lot of waves that needed to be smoothed over. The following ruler tried to salvage the situation by trying to pull in and normalize a lot of varying spiritual and religious beliefs under one umbrella. Shared holidays and all that."
Q: Do Druidic traditions differ between cultures? As in, between the fasa or faewyr, both of which are on the end of being more Druidic. And, if so, what culture's version do we use in the lost lands? A: When it comes to stuff used in the Lost Lands, it's primarily Faewyr flavored, not that they're mutually exclusive to each other. The Faewyr are more about the wild spirits, the Fasa are more about the overall spirit of the world as an interconnected thing. He hates saying plants vs. animals because that's not what it's about, but the Fasa are more about the earth than the animals in the world.
Q: Do Immortals have blood? More specifically - in some real-world mythology, gods/deities/immortals (I think specifically Greek) have a blood-like substance. Is that the case here? Is that something that gets talked about in any of the folktales and myths of the peoples of Arad? A: That's definitely going to depend on the Immortal and the culture asked about it! With the Faewyr, a lot of the Immortals are very human-like; some speculate that they are ancient human ancestors, and there is an NPC who will discuss this sort of thing with you if you are willing to ask questions. Others see them more as nebulous beings of spiritual energy and stuff. He doesn't have specifics he can give out, but he can see there being legends involving the Blood of a God, or empowering an artifact or something. It would exist primarily in Faewyr culture, and Ivial (blood of aengels and stuff).
Q: Do the faewyr know there are different wolf spirits? A: It is part of their beliefs there are multiples. And with this whole proliferation of spirits, they have varying spirits and recognition. This tarruk spirit of this little hill and minor influences and so oi=n
Q: Do you have any etymological insight into the name "Faewyr" that you can share with us? On the Other Game, Wyr tended to mean "people", but does Fae (F-A-E) have the same In Game connotations as it does for the Real World? (IE - vaguely eldritch supernatural beings, like faeries/fairies) (edited) A: Wyr still means people and Fae isn’t quite the same as real world lines but similar. Otherworldly and magical for lack of a better word. It is felt Faewyr were influenced by stuff like that in their early days when humanity or proto humanity was trying to make it’s place and not get destroyed by spirits. There is that association there and they feel they have that influence and connection over other races out there. They are kind of weird/wild people comparative compared to other cultures. They have druid connects that connects them to weird stuff. The fasa are druidic but they have a different flavour.
Q: Does Ivial have coastal regions, or are they a landlocked country? If they have coastal territories, how does their Navy Situation look? Is there a unified Royal Navy, does each territory that's coastal have it's own navy, something else entirely different? A: They have plenty of coasts! They also have a naval power; it's decent based on Ivial being a large, populated place, but the Viali aren't known for their seamanship or naval prowess. It's still important because they do have a coast. Some nations/duchies/etc may have their own separate navy, but there is just a Viali Royal Navy type situation (not the real name). They do send some of them off to help enforce the Quarantine, also. They also get to have opinions on other naval nations and have worry over Faewyr! There are some Faewyr clans that love raiding.
Q: Faewyr mention the northern lights, are there possibly southern lights as well? A: Rias will have to get back to us on that. Soon(tm).
Q: Has Reykvargr/The Smoke Wolf always been called such, or is that an epithet that was applied to them after "The great spirit was overcome with anger and madness"? Is there a different/other Great Wolf Spirit? A: That's something that seems to be more attributed (the title, epithet) to that event, that is, whatever event that caused the Smoke Wolf to adopt that outlet ('humanity's gotten out of hand' kind of thing). There are other smoke wolves, e.g. with one of the Giganti clans. That isn't the same as the Faewyr Smoke Wolf.
Q: I noticed on Aphraen's wiki that "she" is used when referring to Faewyr views of Aphraen; Aphraen is referred to as male in all other descriptions. Do the Faewyr view him differently? A: It is deliberate, it's not a typo. Most people believe Immortals have a fairly fluid gender; they may be generally one gender (Iarel, Vodr), but cultures may interpret them differently based on things they do/ways they act. So the Faewyr view Aphraen as female, whereas the Viali view Aphraen as male. The others don't really care; they go either way. Aphraen is currently the only Immortal who is described in this manner, aside from genderless entities like Aranas.
Q: I noticed that many of the answers on names are with regard to race OR culture, the latter I have taken to mean "homeland" ask picked during character creation. So... does the Lost Lands have any traditional naming conventions? Do we know the naming conventions of old Aetgard / has such convention survived? A: A lot of old Aetgard are Faewyr-flavored; that's how it started, after all. He can see the Lost Lands having come with their own stuff/Aetgard. He'll have to update the Naming Document that Nobody created.
Q: Iarel's helpfile focuses mostly on the knowledge-giving side of her, as I recall. With the Faewyr focus on animal spirits, I had three questions: Is there a serpent great spirit, what is the view of the spirit if so, and how does it intersect with Iarel? A: Yes, there is one. The answer to the other two is "It's complicated." He doesn't want to say anything until he has an official document.
Q: My official weekly Iarel question: Iarel is credited with teaching the Occult. Does this include sorcery? What does she think of sorcery, or what do the Faewyr (and other cultures) think she thinks of it? What about the various Afflictions, particularly nether touched A: So, Sorcery is generally viewed as troublesome. You won't find many interpretations that involve Iarel liking Sorcery, though she's not specifically anti-Sorcery either. Sorcery is considered creepy, unnatural, etc. She doesn't have a strong connection with it, though. It's a spooky, 'avoid if you can' thing. Afflictions, for the most part, aren't great things; Iarel is the creator of mankind (either the whole or partial), so a lot of people see the Afflictions as a corruption of mankind and changing what Iarel created, which is veering off of her intentions.
Q: Reslior asks, "Is there anything more you can say about these areas to the north and south of the current playable area? What resources are available about the Lapis? I saw one mention on the boards but not much else. is this something that is currently developing? Something that there are resources for in-game to understand better? Other sources I may have missed or you'd care to comment on?" A: Rias says, "There's not much information available yet on the northern and southern Lost Lands regions. Lapis is very tight-lipped and xenophobic so it's naturally difficult to know too much about them, but at some point I'd like to get some general knowledge out there. There's even less current general knowledge on the Northern Lost Lands other than the Dominion has started expanding up that way. This is largely due to the fact that I haven't developed a lot in that area in particular, other than some vague and basic information points that I'm not ready to commit to stone yet." Rias says, "One point of interest may be that Aetgard is generally believed to have originally been founded by some Faewyr who landed up in the northwest. So the oldest of the old of Aetgard is up that way."
Q: Someone in-game was wondering about common mythological/folkloric critters like trolls, etc. Do you have a list of what sorts of beasts like that folks could reference to IC? A: That's a good question. He can throw a list together. Trolls can be assumed to be something that's used, but don't assume they're the same type of trolls you're familiar with. Probably very Faewyr stuff.
Q: Teri asks (muffled by a mask), "Does the Republic military have any standard form/structure or is it highly dependant on where they're drawn from?" A: Rias says, "They're a mishmash. They don't really have any unified military program or group, it's all about "We'll bring what we have and do our thing, you bring what you have and do your thing. Our leaders will coordinate." Like we've got Porto with the naval emphasis which is what most people first think of when they hear about the Republic, but then we've also got this scary bunch led by a Faewyr lady who's rumored to be possibly canim, or perhaps a bit touched by primal forces, and they're about skirmishing and hit-and-run and precision raiding on land." Rias says, "The Republic is very much about "We'll bring what we have to the table, you bring what you have to the table, and we'll all try to coordinate as best we can for the overall good of everyone."." Rias says, "So where the Dominion says "Welcome to the Dominion, you must comply to our ways" the Republic says "Hey, keep doing what you're doing, but join our group here and be ready to be called on." Not that they don't have their own basic set of rules that all members of the Republic are required to abide by, but there aren't many hard rules they have like that."
Q: The Faewyr have a strong connection with the great animal spirits from what I have gathered. They also have a great reverence for Aphraen, since it is believed she created Draumfeldr. I’m curious how these two concepts connect. Is Aphraen related to the great animal spirits somehow? Are they a sort of adoption from the Viali religion after they settled in Aetgard? If they are in line with the great spirits, which animal spirit are they? A: Aphraen is not considered an animal spirit or descended from one or anything. Aphraen is one of the Big Four (Vodr, Undm, Bogvaskr, and Aphraen), some of the last human-like spirits that survived amidst the feral animal spirits who literally were eating everything, which is terrifying. This links down to the birth of humanity in Tyr-Gwyrd. They're very human-like, though Aphraen is the closest to the others. There is one NPC you can chat to about this!
Q: There are some hints of the afterlife in the various help files, but could we get an overview of afterlife beliefs for each culture? Again, I play Faewyr, but I imagine others would be just as interested in the other cultures. I read mention of Undm deciding which afterlife you go to for Faewyr, but not what those afterlives are, for example. Does contracting one of the various Afflictions (resen, nethertouched, etc) affect one's expected afterlife? A: Yes. But he has to start getting things in a format for it; it's related somewhat to the extra Immortals information that he wants to get out there, which includes overhauling the Immortals page which he really wants to do but he wants to do a lot of stuff. Rias is a busy beaver noodle.
Q: Vaelin asks, "How fast will the memory loss be with the veil of dreams when a faewyr steps in theforeign land?" A: Rias says, "Passing through the Veil of Dreams causes a very rapid memory-fogging. Most who have experienced it would say you don't even realize it's happening until it's already happened, and it's difficult to pinpoint any particular moment or timeframe for when it's "complete", but it certainly happens quickly enough for it to be in effect before reaching any other landmass or anything like that." Rias says, "The exact boundaries of the Veil are also not known, so it's a difficult thing for anyone to try and test." Rias says, "I can just imagine Aphraen adjusting it every now and then, just to keep people in the dark about it and from trying to figure out any kind of bypass or loophole in order to somehow pass on the knowledge it's meant to keep secret."
Q: Vaelin says, "So, knowledge and news comes in, no news goes out with the veilof dreams up? I assume that's how the faewyr keeps themselves updated with happenings in the world at least." A: Rias says, "Generally speaking, it's a pretty effective selective filter with little in the way of collateral damage. Aphraen did some good work with that one." Q: Speaking to Rias, Darkangel asks (muffled by a bandana-mask), "So, the cloak is not just a cultural conditioning?" Rias says, "Correct. Incoming knowledge is fine, outgoing is what's affected." Speaking to Rias, Darkangel asks (muffled by a bandana-mask), "Sorry about that, but, i wa wondering if the cloak is an actual thing, or a conditioning that the faewyr use? and, what particular secrets does it selectively filter out?" A: Speaking to Darkangel, Rias says, "Maybe! Is it the act of Aphraen, or is it just some reall effective cultural subconscious conditioning? Whatever it is, it's more than just people keeping secrets really well. There's certain information I won't give to player characters about Tyr-Gwyrd because their characters literally do not know - not just that they're keeping it secret." Rias says, "Hah! I can't tell which secrets it filters, because nobody outside Draumfeldr knows them, and no players have character that are on the inside." Rias says, "But its gnerally, at the least, stuff about the location and geography of Tyr-Gwyrd, as well as some specifics about the governing and traditions of the Faewyr clans back home. They apparently don't want all their deeper traditions known to outsiders." Rias asks, "I imagine it can be a little frustrating for players of Faewyr to have some of their deeper background lore deliberately hidden, but I like to think it also lends a fun feeling of mystery to their culture. Beyond just their homeland's location, what are they hiding, and why is it so important to keep it hidden? Are they just really trying to keep themselves safe after the one big historic betryal, are they extreme xenophobes, are they up to no good, are they guarding some big secret to keep the world safe, is it actually just some weird effect of traveling between what are actually literally different worlds and not just a separate continent.
Q: We know of the Church of St. Vito; are there any other Saints? What is St. Vito known for? A: There's an NPC that talks about this (if you can find Elad). St. Vito is known as the first Thaumaturge of Constantia, which is why the Church is named after him. There are other Saints, Rias just has never written down their name. Nicola, the First Templar, would be one at this point; there are plenty others but he started a list years ago and never finished it because he hates us. One of his favorites is a Faewyr he can't remember details about. Most are Constantian/Viali, but there are a smattering of some other races. Generally speaking, the Church of St. Vito and its offshoots/branches haven't caught on outside of Ivial/Constantia (and Shadgard, because it had started to catch on in Aetgard until the Tyrant King came around who did not like it). There's not a lot of Saints outside of Constantia and Ivial, but there are some.
Q: What are some examples of careers for Faewyr in the 'Nightwalkers' or 'Duskwalkers'? Daywalkers seems fairly self-explanatory. A: Sentries, guards, things like that who have to be up at all hours. Others just live the nightlife as shopkeepers, etc. They have a 24-hour society, ultimately, so anything done in the day can also be done at night. Hunting crepuscular or nocturnal animals.
Q: What races/cultures in the game hunt whales? Do any? A: "Whales have the unfortunate circumstance of being useful, so they're probably hunted by a lot of seafaring cultures. Giganti (Rullendbolg and others), the Faewyr, anyone who's on the ocean could make a lot of money for hunting whales."
Q: Where do Faewyr raid? All coastal areas? Do they go inland on rivers? How big are the raids and the fights? Do they burn down large settlements? Etc. A: It depends on the Faewyr; some clans are all about raiding and are super nasty and destroy and pillage and rawr. Others are less nasty and go in and say "Give us tribute and we won't kill you." and then leave in relative peace. Some clans are entirely ocean-based, with no real home; they're constantly on the sea. It's mostly on the ocean, and coastal settlements.
Q: Why did they leave to settle Aetgard? A: There are various theories on that! Some say it was just exploration, the most common explanation is that there was a Faewyr raider who had a lot of power, and they were getting so powerful that they caused worry among the Twelve Realms on the mainland and weren't welcome anymore, so they went somewhere else and found a new continent and there's Aetgard.
Q: Zombilicious asks, "How common is the term 'druid'? Obviously we have druidry as the name for the power they channel, but would most people equate the term 'druid' with a user of druidry or would it vary between cultures? For instance, would an Andhoytallr also be OK with being called a druid?" A: Rias says, "They're probably accept it as a way for people to somewhat understand their connection while also feeling there's some nuance lost in simply being thought of as just another druid." Q:Zombilicious asks, "Would Faewyr be more comfortable being called druids?" Rias says, "Yes, it's a very common and accepted Faewyr concept." Zombilicious says, "Following up, Eugor also wants to know if the term 'shaman' would be accepted by cultures." Rias says, "I'm not sure. I feel like there are some things to consider and potentially avoid with that particular term, and so I've generally avoided using it." Zombilicious says, "What about 'witch'? Are witches viewed as more sorcerous, or could they just be anyone mystical, if witches are an accepted term." Zombilicious says, "The actual word 'witch', not the B word." Rias says, "I think 'witch' works as a sort of catch-all for someone who does mysterious and usually spooky/creepy occult stuff, and could apply fairly equally to practitioners of sorcery, druidry, or even arcana." Rias says, "A lot of arcanists will try to sell you on the whole cold logical science of their particular branch of the occult, but at the end of the day it's still scribing mysterious symbols to call forth supernatural powers/effects."





Fasa


- Fasa are intended to be similar to previous incarnations, still nomadic peoples with more reliance on family structure than formalized societal hierarchy (no monarchs)
-Immortal comments. Even Primalists can flirt with Immortals. These immortals presumably have some kind of primal affinity sometimes, e.g. Bogvaskr with beasts. It's generally assumed Bogvaskr is not a primal entity, but assumed he has affinity for that stuff. similar with mortals; you have to learn druidry, seek out and make that bond. maybe the immortals are doing that too in some cases, and have that affinity. It's not what they are essentially, but that doesn't mean they cannot have that connection. With the Fasa they have a bit more [flexibility], they blend things a little! But they still have that basic distinction. For Fasa Immortals are not just primal entitites, but still have varying connections with those forces, and have helped mortals learn about those connections. C: Vandin is complicated, hard to write! He's having a hard time trying to figure out how to present him to players. C: What's the deal with prime immortals? Should probably get that out there. Vodr, Iarel, Undm, Vandin. Hoping to write up that document soon! C: It's good to have VC discussion. That's the reason for VC, else you could just post stuff on the BBS! We do the muting thing because we don't want it to be chaos. Not to say we don't want other people talking, just want it to be a controlled flow.
Q: Chariot asks, "Thank you. Two quick questions here before I fall asleep on my keyboard...first, if Fasa tattooes are in the plan, which I heard at one point they are, how are they going to be like?" A: Rias says, "Yep, we'll have the tradtional Fasa tattoos. I'll look through the material I have to try and find their original incarnations and work from that. It's definitealy an important part of their culture that shouldn't be overlooked. Probably an option for all Fasa characters to choose one from the "standard" clan list, and additional edits/alterations can be made case-by-case for those who have more in mind."
Q: Do worshippers of the Gaea give any credence to the belief in named Immortals? Are these other powers considered facets of the Gaea, or are they largely irrelevant? A: Fasa Perspective, they definitely see the Gaea as separate and then you have the named Immortals; they also believe in various Primal Powers in addition to the Gaea, but feel they're all connected to the Gaea. The named Immortals exist as well but are separate.
Q: Is there, or are there plans to be, provision for characters to start with cultural tattoos or brands if appropriate to their background? Ythwir brands, etc. I'm sorry if this is posted somewhere; I asked on chat the other day and there was no answer. A: Yeah, that and things like the Fasa Tattoos and stuff, will definitely have those character-creation options. When it comes to that stuff with people who don't have them: it's OK with getting one at things like the Tattoo Merchant at the Octum Festival and then act like you've always had it.
Q: Since Rias once said Fasa may not be modified much from the old lore, in which area and how will are they modified, if any?A: To be determined and written
Q: The old Fasa wiki page mentions something called the Vael, which is as far as I can make out is a spirit associated with all things celestial. Is that a thing here? Is there a spirit of the sky? A: The Vael is a specific class of Immortal (Vandin, Bogvaskr, etc.) that is different than the Gaea, with human-facing characteristics, and then there are things like Malfant/Aranas who are different than the Vael classification (tied to the nether, primarily). The Vael are beings they can communicate more naturally with/identify better with because they are human-understandable, unlike the Gaea and the Primal Powers.
Q: There was a mention of Fasa tribes wandering in the region between the playable area and the Lapis border on the clok bbs. Is this still relevant to cogg? A: He doesn’t recall that one in particular. There might be some traces of a race or culture in aetgard it is believable that any race or culture has a lingering presence that are wondering in the lost lands old aetgard area.
Q: What about Fasa horse games/annual games? A thing? A: Would need to check that out from previous lore and see what that might look like, and if he wants to keep it.
Q: you ask, "What are your top 3 geographical/geological Cool Things in Arad you haven't gotten to tell us very much about yet?" A: Rias exclaims, "Uh. Hrm. I mentioned the Great Cliffs of Tol Rhun at some point. Stone Canyon is an old favorite area from CLOK that I just love picturing the landscape of, a big old river canyon. I hope to get that into the game someday soonish(tm). Same with the Eidhmor Salt Flats and connected areas beyond it which I'm really excited to put out there and let people explore, because there's some history there to be discovered that I'm really excited about. I'm also excited to reveal more about the Ancient Lands of the Fasa and the ancient forest found in one part of it. Sirak Drauth has a lot that I'm not going to comment on yet because I haven't committed to details. Hey, look I'm doing a ramble in text form!" Rias says, "Also one Geological Cool Thing that will be in Mistral. Which will be hilarious."





Giganti


- LORE: are giganti bards skald-ish? Yes
-Player characters can be descended from clans on the giganti page. Even if you just want to be associated with X Clan, but want to be your own clan, that's all good. If they're prominent enough to be on the wiki, they're big enough to claim from them. Don't claim to be the son of the leader or something, y'all.
Q: Any particular opinions about the Giganti exporting gems or metals? A: Yeah, that's a big thing of theirs, that's something they would do. For other cultures, it's a big thing if it's Giganti crafted.
Q: Despite the issues involved with ensuring the proper elements required for the usage of the One Tongue in regards to Giganti, do they still use the language in the hopes of it working? Do young Giganti get some runes tattooed on them despite the fact that anyone knowledgeable knows that it won't work? Or is that knowledge not commonplace, and the Runskjaere encourage that sort of abandonment so only they can provide? A: [Tulpa: Again, perhaps others will be able to share more enlightening/accurate notes on this!] General sense was that there is still a healthy respect for tradition and symbology within Giganti communities, and inherent power within runes/glyphs. Regarded as a 'pure' language of the mountain father.
Q: Do Giganti have a catch-all term for non-Giganti? Would lowlanders work? A: Yeah that could work! He didn't have any particular one in mind.
Q: Do Giganti have any specific preference to tattoos? Are they mostly tribal in nature or purely individual? Do they have a deeper meaning to them like say, Fasa? Is there any kind of cultural approach to tattoos in the Giganti, or a recognised look to them across the clans? A: The Giganti are fond of runes/glyphs and likely to incorporate that into their tattoo designs (see also question about One Tongue). They may indicate tribal allegiance but this isn't set in stone. Rias mentioned 'evergrowing' tattoos related to tribes that can be modified over time. There is some scope for individuality but nothing wildly off-piece. Rias thinks that Fasa would tend to be stricter about tattoo designs' authenticity (always with some room for individual flair, but again nothing too eccentric) and unaccepting of tattoos that don't fit with an established clan's aesthetics.
Q: Do the Rullendbolg (Rolling Wave) Clan get down with Nereia or Vodr? Or is she too soft for that rowdy bunch? A: They definitely pay their respects to both, even if Nereia is not particularly prime Giganti material. It doesn't mean they don't respect her sovereignty over the sea and stuff like that, especially due to Vodr being gone (if you believe that); the torch has been passed, so she now influences a lot of his spheres. The lion's share of respect goes to Vodr, though.

Q: In some cultures, sewing (in terms of mending your own clothing or armor) was considered something not to look down upon men for. Is this the case with Giganti? They seem to take great pride particularly in stonework and the like (harder physical work) so I thought perhaps lighter needlework might not be an excusable male thing. Or even, perhaps, an excusable female thing. A: I think in Giganti culture they don't have the same stereotypes. He thinks is a more universal. If it wussy for a man, the same for a woman. Sewing wouldn't be one, because the emphasize on crafts work and making some to the best of your ability and making it good quality and that applies to some things more than others because they have emphasis on strength, might be considered lesser on the scale but a tailor would not be mocked. Not as much esteem as a blacksmith or stoneworker. Feawyr are more a matriarchal society. Women are more respected and looked to for leadership."
Q: Is there any preference to Giganti weapons/armor via Clan? I assumed stuff like Jernmeis/Svartsten, Fallansten for example would be very heavy armor-based, while Skjelfuru/Rullenbolg/Hvituvlv are more based around light armor. Not, like hardcore split, but their environments from pure rugged mountains/underground to water/artic. A: Yeah, you got that about right. It's clearly very intuitive; Hvitulv are very high mobility, whereas Fallansten are an immovable bastion of might.
Q: Lorewise, how many Giganti on average are at the high range of height (6 foot 10 - 7 foot), the short range (6 foot, 6 foot 4 inches)? Do Giganti look down on the shorter of their kind in any way? Related, the Giganti are said to be proud. How often do they produce offspring of Mixed race, and are those who show signs of other races, non-giganti colored hair and eyes etc, similarly looked down upon? A:most will be on the taller side and the shorter ones will stand out and be picked on but once in the more mature circles it isn't going to matter much. If they are disliked by the community they will make fun of them. If they were really scrawny, sure since they have pride in their stature and might. There is something about their physiology but they don't tend to produce scrawny people even if short they will be beefy. If it was to the point the giganti if there was something wrong with them but it was beyond the current limits. If you want to roleplay the smallest and scrawniest there is nothing wrong rping that.
Q: Sorry if this is a misconception, but my understanding is Giganti runes work best on hard rigid surfaces like bone, stone, metal, and so forth, where material warping will not deform the rune. It seems there are possibly some similarities to this with permanent arcana glyphs being etched onto iron plates. Are runskjaeres sometimes seen as masters of a culturally flavored brand of arcana, or are the two generally differentiated between somehow? A: They often get offended when people look at it as Arcana, but they definitely have similarities. There are theories it's another form of Arcana that the runskjaeres will vehemently deny because they are the WORD OF THE MOUNTAIN FATHER, AND HOW DARE YOU SULLY HIS VOICE THAT FLOWS THROUGH THEM! Diagrams and glyphs are ~something else~, and are a weird trigger and don't have the same purity of purpose.
Q: What marriage traditions exist? I assume it varies by culture. Is it more secular or more religious? Are specific immortals associated with the process in cases where it's religious? Or is it overseen by all of them or the ones the couple favor? Are there rings or other symbols of marriage? Is there a traditional color? A: Honestly, Rias hasn't thought about it! It's come up in the past; he's always seen it as more of a thing that varies by culture, and something that's largely civil or between two people. Some involve religion/have religious beliefs that tie into it, but it's not hugely religious. In some of the cultures where there's clan/family pride, they like to have records of it. The higher you are up in the social chain, it's more important and they make a big deal out of it. For the people who feel free to do whatever they want, they can just get together and come up with what they want. Rias confirms that fasa tattoos are only the half-circle until you get married! It's official now apparently. Same-sex marriage? It depends, but generally speaking, people don't really care about this, only comes up when it comes to the family line when people are more caught up on stuff like that. In the higher-ups, where people are paying attention to your line (Ivial, Tol Rhun), and depending on the Giganti clan.
Q: What might be some Giganti views on mining gems or metals? A: That's kind of a big part of their whole thing. They're big into being in or under the mountain, mining its resources, and the various blessing of the Mountain Father that have been put there. There is a thing where the giganti like gems and stuff a lot, but the mountain father doesn't really. The idea is that the Mountain Father is more into kind of, natural gems yes --- but polishing them up not. It's more of a Giganti thing than a Mountain Father thing. They like their fancy metalworking. They'd be the ones that'd be really good at making alloys and stuff like that.
Q: What were the inspirations for the creation of Iarel as a Goddess. Was she related to the Celtic Goddess Sirona? A: Rias created Iarel on his own, mostly. Subconscious inspirations probably were there, but not deliberate. One of the important things was that we'd lacked lore/info on Creation Myths specific to Mankind, so Iarel gives information on that. The Constantians and Viali and consider her a literal Creator of Mankind and the rest of the races also still view her as a Creator God, even if she is not their Creator God (see Giganti). His impression has also been that you often get powerful, Queen-like characters who are arrogant, haughty and obnoxious; he wanted an Immortal who was powerful and imperious but also benevolent, instead of a jerk, while also breaking the trope of serpents being evil, bad things. A lot of people were also assuming that Serafina was also the Big Deity in Viali culture, and while she's prominent, she's still low on the cosmic power scale; they don't view Serafina as their One True God or anything, they just focus on her due to their history and her ideals.
Q: What would a formal introduction be like for Giganti, if any? Would them being part of a sub-clan change the response to this question? A: For the first part, they have a typical son or daughter type name if they're proud of their parentage, and then their clan name, and then any epithets they have bestowed upon them (so Black, the son of Grey from Jerkface Clan, The Bulwark of Shadgard). For sub-clans, it would depend on the relationship to the main clan, for instance, if they're conquered or something; feel free to flavor it as your character would! If they're bitter about it, they may not mention it's a sub-clan or something.
Q: When we're talking about wars and how countries interact with one another, would you say the lost lands are the most informed as a result of their mixed citizenry? Exiles pouring in from all over the place, etc. A: They certainly benefit from it. It's a big benefit of the Republic-- a lot of people who come into the lost lands as a start pass through Republic channels, and the Republic's made itself a way to streamline other nations' allowing people entry into the lost lands. That said the lost lands are still the lost lands, and that carries it's fair share of issues for communication and logistics and the like. The giganti have a lot of forts and citadels in the passes to close their borders and keep invaders the heck off of their property. There's at least one incident of Aetgart trying to invade them, only for every single (usually quarreling) giganti clan to unite and push them out as a united force. Only to, of course, turn back toward one another so they can resume their internal clan disputes.






HillFolk

Q From Bonehead: So, it's Rumored that the people of Lapis aredescendants of people who split off from Sifa'z Exodus. Do they feel any particular way towards Hillfolk in general? A: We wouldn't know enough about Lapis and Lapisians to know what their attitude about Hillfolks are.
Q: As Hillfolk are known for being hobbits (hairy feet), are there any other race specific features, beyond coloration, that you can think of? A: I would say they are fairly different from hobbits. As for specific features, they are shorter, on average, but not hobbit shorter. They don't have much else that makes them stick out.
Q: Did the Hillfolk originally have a language that they lost due to lack of use? A: That is a good question. We should ask around in character. They won't directly say it, but you could get an inkling about it and maybe Rias will add more stuff now that he knows people are interested in it.
Q: Does Dunwyr Venom contain venom from actual Dunwyr? A: Gotta get those loggers out of there somehow. It would be a fun way to do it. It would be funny if it gave rise to a folk legend, that if you get bitten by a dunwyr it can be cured by drinking Dunwyr Venom. C: Some time was taken to theorise about Jonathon Crowhaven being Hillfolk, or maybe just a nice guy, just misunderstood.
Q: Is the naming scheme for Hillfolk any different in Parr, or is it still English and more rarely Welsh? A: It's probably about the same. They might have some differences, with cultural trends that are different from the mainland. Maybe he'll add the information sometime; it's not wildly different or anything.
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:04 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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Teri
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Huecatn and Khaldeans

Post by Teri »

Huecatn



-Pronounciation of Huecatn: "Weck-han". Tatlhuecatn: "Tal-weck-han".
-You really cannot vacation in the Huecatn jungle. It will kill you. It is dangerous and toxic. You're welcome. HILLANT MAN IS MAYBE REAL? NO CONFIRMATION, NO DENIAL!
Q: Does everyone who comes through the Lost Lands arrive through Porto D'esilio, or also New Emberlight? A: The vast majority come through Porto, but it is possible that they came through Emberlight or through the Huecatn port up north (though it's much less likely). People can also get shipwrecked. The other routes are sealed up well, or one-way, or the Fay Forest (which is terrifying?).
Q: Are there any areas outside the Lost Lands that Rias wants players to be able to visit in the long run? A: He's probably just going to keep it in the Lost Lands, within the quarantine. The Huecatn area would be the most likely. The Giganti are pretty stingy about their borders, with their passes well guarded. They don't let people in unless see good reason to do so, which is not to say there's no travel.
Q: Are there any languages where the barrier is less people of that culture willing to share, but the language just being very difficult to learn. A: This has come up a few times, but the hardest to learn is the Huecatn language. I don't think any particular culture is keeping their language hard to learn/restricted.
Q: Are there port areas that are big port areas? A: Huecatn port cities to the north, but they're far away. There are other settlements because ports are awesome, but Rias doesn't have other comments. None are super snowy, but it can get cold in Porto.
Q: Do any of the other cultures on Arad aside from the Huecatn have an analogue to Temicotli, the Way of Dreams or is that unique to them? Or tales of other worlds, astral passageways, etc., that you could share with us? A: I think there are some similar concepts around that, but nothing that's directly analogous to it.
Q: Do the Huecatn have a name for Toteo's Aphraen splinter? A: He has tried not to focus on that kind of thing too much. He imagines they have one but doesn't know what it would be, doesn't have one in mind.
Q: Do the Huecatn refer to this world and their old world by names? Do other cultures also have names for the world? A: Rias has a name for it, but it's not a name he thinks the Huecatn call it.
Q: How are their views on religion or the immortals? How do they view arcana, and sorcery? A: Don't have a lot of detail but feels like with the fasa and religion they kind of similar to huecatn concept but acknowledge there is a lot of stuff. They know everything. We know what we know and that there is other stuff out there we would like to learn about. They know their mythology and geography. similar to faewyr sort of more respectful of nature or feel everything is tied together. Everything is interconnected and every has got these links maybe not direct connects but everything links to each other. and has their place. Viali brought up other immortals like SerafinA. The Fasa go okay we have never heard that before but that is something we are not familiar from your continent. We are not going to deny it because we don't know.Druidry and primalism is their gig culturally. Likely mostly don't like sorcery because it corrupts and changes things into other things. Plants become weird nether plants in a short time. Not to say No fast never would, but generally not. Scary people use scary things is their perspectiveArcana: It isn't a prominent thing, but it is utilized.
Q: How common is the common language across cultures? What's the most common profession in which it is applied? A: Common is quite common. If there were people who weren't going to have as much knowledge, it would probably be Native Faewyr from Tyr Gwyrd and Huecatn people, the Nuum because they're proud of their own language. Khaldea is where it started! It went over to Aetgard, and caught on very strongly there; it started out largely as a trade language, though this all might change at some point.
Q: How do the Huecatn process criminals if sacrifice is a big deal? A: They usually put them to work. If they did something so heinous they didn't want them around anymore, they would exile them. Their whole sacrifice thing requires Willing Sacrifice; unwilling ones aren't effective, but it could be an option given to some prisoners. They won't make it glorious, but they may sacrifice to help the weather so we have a good crop, or something mundane.This would be a tempting out for criminals. "I can be sacrificed and become a cool force of nature!" Immortality is dope even if you're not alive anymore. Plus you aren't stuck in prison. -
Q: I noticed some of the Hecatn's Immortals have animalistic shapes, like Doves or Jaguars, while others do not. Does Aphraen have a regular humanoid shape, or an animalistic one? If so, how do they view Aphraen's form? A: Aphraen is weird. He definitely has a humanish form, hanging out up there on the entry to Temicotl, fighting off the baddies. He'll have to ponder that more and put it on the Aphraen document. Aphraen is huge in Huecatn lore, so he definitely has a presence.
Q: In Huecatn lore, is there any immortal like being believed to oppose Toteoh? A: There's a whole thing that they got kicked out of their previous world and Toteoh brought them over here, so you have those opposing forces. Some of them are described as individual beings, but it's also a concept that they come from this primordial stew of deep, consuming darkness that consumes things; destructive, not creative. There's this idea that there's darkness out somewhere that's a problem, and Toteoh is the opposite of that, creating things and making life.
Q: Of the cultures and races, which are more isolating and which are more communicative with their allies? A: The Huecatn , the nuum, and the rhuidim are likely the least inclusive of the other races. The fasa are kind of doing their own thing, just not actively going around prowling for new information. More neutral than actively or passively cooperative. Aetgart and Khaldea are considered to have been the biggest melting pots with mixed backgrounds. The Viali get caught up in their traditions. They try, but they're Viali. So. Random note on Lapis: The Lapis do have their own subtleties and interest as well. They aren't a monolith.
Q: Reslior exclaims, "First I want to say thank you so much for creating and maintaining this world. Today has been my first full day playing and I've been unbelievably impressed and encouraged by the level of player engagement, the complexity and thoughtfulness of the mechanical systems, and the structural potential for deep lore and the concomitant roleplay. Kudos to all of you and a big thank you to those who interacted with me and helped me today!" Rias says, "Of course your first day would be Crash Day." Speaking to Rias, Fellborn says, "Could be worse. Could be Fellborn back from hiatus day." You disagree with Fellborn. Speaking to Fellborn, Rias says, "We don't talk about that day." Speaking to Rias, Fellborn says, "Your fault for hiring me." Reslior asks, "Geographically speaking, where is the extent of the playable area in the lost lands? How much lost lands extends beyond the boundary of this area? Do we know anything about what those areas are like? Are there equally civilized places? What is known of the racial composition of Aetgard before the plague? Are there sources in game or out of game referring to life before the plague? Is it a mystery or is it something that is part of everyday knowledge?" Reslior exclaims, "A lot of questions, but I think they can be answered with more unified responses. Apologies!" A: Rias says, "The entirety of the playable area is encompassed by the Lost Lands, which is a section of the ruined Kingdom of Aetgard, which is a signification portion of western Arad (the continent we're on). To the north/northwest are the lands of Tatlhuecatn (home of the Huecatn people) and further, Sirak Drauth, homeland of the Giganti. To the south is the Kingdom of Lapis, claiming to be the last significant remaining vestige of Old Aetgard, and further south than that beyond the impenetrable Fey Forest is Karnath, the homeland of the Hillfolk." Rias says, "Aetgard was originally founded by Faewyr, and as it grew into a greater civilization it became something of a melting pot, though had a particular Viali influence earlier on." Reslior asks, "So the playable area is essentially the full limits of what we would consider the lost lands besides the border regions that you've mentioned and are mentioned elsewhere and lore?" Rias says, "The playable area will likely never go beyond the Lost Lands, aside from some potential event that temporarily takes people beyond it. The current playable area is only a portion of the Lost Lands though, mostly the Central Lost Lands. There's a lot more of it yet to the north and the south." Reslior says, "That was my central question, thank you. One followup." Rias says, "And regarding the last bit of your previous question, there's frustratingly little information on pre-Plague Aetgard. This is considered an anomaly. That is: Scholars and historians and researchers and the like all agree that something weird is going on about why there's such a large blind spot in knowledge regarding what was apparently one of the most powerful and influential civilizations on Arad."
Q: The Huecatn believe that the Gods have fancy animal forms. Would someone who follows Iarel in Tatlhuecatn view their God as superior, or would it simply be a chill meeting? A: It would depend. He could see people fighting over it, definitely (the Huecatn are competitive, duh), or feeling that someone's misinterpreted an Immortal. There may also be others who view it as the same camp, and therefore fine with them. When it comes to people having strong opinions on things, the more they do that, the more they're going to want to assert their own interpretation of an Immortal over others.
Q: The Huecatn people have a Meritocracy, does this mean that there tends to be people who focus and specialize in their trade as opposed to being sort of "Jack-of-all" trade types? Would be fair to assume that a Soldier has probably been raised since he was younger to be a soldier, and moved into that job once he found somebody willing to train or mentor them? A: A lot of Huecatn try to find their thing and get really good at it; that's how you find your place in society, and for the ambitious, that's how you get recognized and climb the ladder. You find ways to show off what you're good at or improve. They definitely specialize. This would not stop someone from selling a Jack-Of-All-Trades "look at all the things I can do" sort of thing. They just have to prove they're valuable. Huecatn would generally specialize and would start looking for that specialization early (with the goal of standing out / being noticed and advanced) Apprenticeship model is common among Huecatn, but have some vocational "schools" (more like group training). Most education is informal education from the community.
Q: What exports out of the Lost Lands are there, if any? A: Exports are probably various relics or treasures that are dug up. If people have the right contacts they can sell those to interested buyers outside. As far as local resources are concerned, he doesn't really know. It's also hard to get things out of there, if it's from the quarantine it could be diseased or corrupted etc. It can be rough, you'd have to find the right buyers. Imports are probably just luxury stuff, mostly. There are a lot of people in the Lost Lands that have a lot of money, who can afford to buy expensive imports that are luxury items. Maybe these items aren't completely luxury, just nicer things that you don't see a lot of. A lot of the ships that are alluded to, they have multiple destinations within the quarantine that they can go to. If you see a ship it's not necessarily the case that they're going out of the Lost Lands. There's Port D'Esilio. There's at least one Huecatn port. Sea travel is definitely the preferred way to conduct trade in the Lost Lands. It's a lot safer than by land, considering how far flung things are.
Q: What's the Huecatn port? A: It's a fairly major port city. It's affiliated with one of the three major groups within the Huecatn. The Huecatn on the coast, they're the ones that are strongly anti-Resen, because of what happened. It's a big city, there are probably a couple of other settlements as well. A lot of trade happens there for people who think that the people of, e.g., Port D'Esillio are upstarts. C: The Liberi don't trade in any major civilized hub, they just kind of 'do their own thing'.
Q: When Huecatn pray, or do religious rituals, do they pray and make sacrifices to the specific immortal they are honoring, or do they just pray to Toteoh, since they believe most of the others are just shards of him anyway? A: Most turn to the entity that's most appropriate for what they're trying to accomplish/do. Some might turn more vaguely to Toteo and say 'Make this happen or pass this on to whichever of you is the best to handle it.' but there's also a feeling that Toteo IS the different pieces so addressing one is still addressing Toteo.
Q: When was the HUecatn Kingdom splintered? How long ago? A: He'll have to get back to us. A while ago. A long time ago. He doesn't have a number yet. It's been split into 3 for quite a long time now, people are used to it; it didn't happen recently, no one remembers it who's alive.
Q: You may have answered this before but - is there any kind of physical or very noticeable distinction for the God-Kings of Tatlhuecatn that make it obvious that they're imbued with the divine splinter of Toteo, or is that a "the priests say so" kind of thing? A: They don't have any physical distinctions, so no. How much is actual power? How much is the priests saying it, or the people saying it? They don't walk around people a lot. It's hard to say what's real and what isn't.








Khaldean

Q: Another geography question! Ivial and Nuum are at war; what is the border like? How "hot" is the war? A: It isn't super intense at the moment, people at the border are skimirishes but not in a constant state of conflict. The leaders are trying to wrap it up but it isn't a constant. There isn't a wall Viali would have a hard time pushing into because of the arid landscape. They have some forts and stuff out there. He is talking about recently built forts, not towering bastians of stone. The king of Iviali is facepalming the fact that there is a war, but there is a stupid Nordarida is a very controversial spot because they are blamed for starting the war, and the Count is going whatever and this is my right and this land is mine and is weaponizing fear and hate over the nuum taking slaves. both nuum and ivalia hate the count. The count thinks his land sucks and wants to get more land, mostly has scrub brush and pretty dry. Not many resources. Not valuable land but still land, but the count figures the only thing they can do now is get more land. The Khaldeans are enjoying it probably
Q: Aras asks, "Last question what do the people think of the other celestial bodies other than constellations like the moon?"' A: Rias says, "The Khaldeans have this crazy theory they're trying to get to catch on within the scientific community beyond Khaldea. It posits that there's a whole lot of stuff out there, most of it really really far away, and those celestial bodies you see up there in the sky could be similar to the world we're all on, or things like our Sun. The moon could be its own whole world out there! (Lots of people say the Immortals may hang out there sometimes, so hey, it makes at least a little amount of sense, right?)." Rias says, "More likely though, it's the Veil or the edge of the mortal realm, and the Immortals and/or other entities are back there doing who-knows-what." Rias says, "Those lights and things twinkling, or occasionally wandering, are probably the Immortals or similar entities, or perhaps part of their workings up there."
Q: Are there biases/prejudices against mixed children? A: Khaldean don't care about mixed children, unless it was something like a Nuum because ew Nuum, gross. Faewyr are iffy; they have a lot of focus on clans and bloodlines, they also have the whole concept of adopting people into clans, so it's not terrible but some Faewyr clans may look down on it. It's not a cultural-wide taboo.
Q: Are there plans for more steamworks and will Mistral have the same steamwork accomodations or a similar but unique town function? A: Mistral won't have a steamworks. The Khaldeans that had the knowledge ended up in Shadgard.
Q: As a monarchy, is there one ruling pureblood family or is it more of his spirit rules the country while there are certain qualified houses who can hear and speak on his behalf? A: There are definitely bloodlines. They do have the shrine where the spirit of Rhun is still there and they're able to give guidance. There are still people they have, speakers who go there who then come back and speak for Rhun. But there's always the question: are they speaking for rhun or are they speaking for themselves, to keep themselves in power? There have been times where there's been an upset; the word has come down that Rhun has renounced someone, done something to shake things up, and then there's a little civil war. Then a faction might claim that it's just the speakers acting in their own interests. They have this weird situation that, on the one hand, we don't want to be beholden to gods any more, but they sort of still are. It's awkward. There are several different houses of the people that are the descendents of Rhun or claim to be. They have the one major city, it has the central tower and there are districts descending out (Rias thinks it's a neat aesthetic). The more a house edges towards the centre of the city more powerful they are, typically, but that's not always the case. The houses ally with eachother to get where they want to go, but then there are betrayals, etc. it's a fun battlefield out there. There are some more remote settlements, though none of them are particularly major. There's a port on the west coastline, then there's a border city to the North (on the border with Khaldea). The Khaldeans the only ones that they consider to be somewhat trustworthy --- or at least some of the Khaldeans.
Q: Do Immortals recognise blood lines, descendants (when it comes to worshippers)? A: It depends on the immortal. The immortal might keep an eye on someone, wondering if they are going to follow in their ancestors' footsteps if those ancestors were particularly devoted adherents. It's complicated with the Constantians. The Viali, as a race, have a specific relationship with Iarel, for the Faewyr, the big four. Vandin is more popular with the Arad based folks. Khaldeans like vandin a lot. Fasa have a good relationship with Vandin as someone who tries to share knowledge and teach, as well as organises, according to some of their lore, those teachings. He's not necessarily a specialist, but good at delegating things.
Q: Do Khaldeans have their own interpretations of the Gods? A: Yes. Rias needs to put a whole thing about their stuff and their religious view on the wiki. They have a thing where they're leery of the occult, but don't deny it exists. They're based somewhat on Nuumic traditions because that's where they come from. They're less Nuumic than Nuum. Khaldeans are more open about acknowledging what the Nuum saw the Immortals as prior to the Nuum stamping them out.
Q: Do the Khaldeans have any particular viewpoints on Kebyet? A: He doesn't have anything in mind but will have to think about it.
Q: Does Nuumic clothing differ from Khaldean? Can you go into any specifics? How differently would the different social classes dress in Nuum? A: Yep. No, not really; I am not a clothing guy. Nuum have elements from their tinkering to help adjust their clothes to deal with the desert environments. They like their jewelry and accessorizing. Khaldean do more coverage and more colorful patterns in their clothing. For the different social classes in Nuum, the higher classes will have their fancier clothing and jewelry, of course.
Q: Eugor asks, "'Since learning of Khaldea, I've associated them and the industrial revolution. I imagine a lot of their inventions are wacky doodads that have only a few niche uses, but how accurate is that? I'm wondering about their usage of factories, assembly lines, and other extreme practical applications of their technology. How much of their resources are put towards mass production, if at all? Does the answer change when examining their war efforts, particularly in the realms of firearms. Are these the weapons they're employing against the Nuum?" A: Rias says, "I like to think that Khaldea has unintentionally sort of limited their own progress in that they're still in the stage of experimentation and wonder, and they're not putting all their knowledge and advancement to completely practical use. Partially because that's how Khaldeans are, and partially for OOC reaosns to keep the tech level somewhat contained. I imagine some of them are looking into initial-level industrial factory production type stuff, but I don't know that it's quite caught on on a significant scale yet. They do strongly utilize their firearms to hold their own against Nuum. There's also some rumors that... hmmmm. Not ready to reveal that one yet."
Q: Family units among the races: married vs. unmarried, etc. Do they have biases against being married vs. unmarried? Pressure to get married, children out of wedlock. A: In the specific case of Khaldeans, they are pretty chill. They don't care. Just be a merit to society and do whatever you want to do. It would depend largely on the clan for Faewyr; some frown on it, others might not care
Q: Giganti: Do they have surnames, clan names, or fancy titles. A: They can take surnames (generally son-of or daughter-of names), but generally no. They can earn a descriptive epithet or surname, which is more common. It's conceited to make one up yourself, it's something that's bestowed on you by things. They also use their Clan Name in the sense of "Ragne of the Hvitulv Clan", but it's not a surname. Other Surnames: Surnames are a big deal in Ivial, Hillfolk have surnames and a lot of family/personal pride. Rhuidim have surnames because lineage from Rhun himself is a Big Deal. Being able to tie yourself back to Rhun is a great way to been seen positively. Not everyone is a sorceror in Tol Rhun. It's privileged, like occult stuff in Nuum. There's no real classes. It's a status symbol, though, and people in power wanna keep it. Nuum do not have surnames. Nuum slaves have names, but no agency over if it stays the same forever. Maybe some have numbers. Huec definitely do not have surnames. They don't even really care about biological ties. They are super communal, everyone gets together, everyone participates. No lazy people. TO THE JUNGLE WITH THEM. Khaldeans have surnames
Q: Has gravity been discovered, named and studied yet? A: Yeah, at the very least, the khaldeans have wondered about it. It's safe to assume we can use the term gravity, and for characters to know about things falling, the mechanics of that.
Q: Hi! In general, can you give us an idea of what Tol Rhun is like? A: They came about from a rebellion in Ivial and are exiles from Ivial and a lot of sorcery was used, they got kicked out and given treaty, get out of here and we won't mess with you and won't mess us. A lot of bitterness of the rhun at the viali. The viali are immigrants from a different place and asserted themselves and had a change on the locals. Thol Rhun is a narrow area compared to others west of ivial coastline west and south. Large sea cliffs, very cool geographic thing. Most of the rhuidim live in one major settlement built around one central tower. A lot of political intrigue related to bloodlines and who is descended. They have a commerce area close to the Khaldeans they trade with. The Khaldeans are one of the few they don't consider as potential enemies but are suspicious of everyone else. They have states in other places in the country ruled by the central place. Likely some have nice real estate along the cliff. They are bitter their territory is really small. They can't go east because of the treaty they will break the treaty and the Khaldeans aren't willing to give up land when their land isn't the best anyone. The primary city is built around the tower a lot of it is vertical space and there the symbolic of the higher up you are the higher up you feel. Not sure on architecture Probably started out really crap but in their culture, they have a chip on their shoulder and pride in who they want to be and awesome. The further from the center the crappy the city will get. Political intrigue if your house gets shamed one of the consequences could be being relocated from the inner circle to outer circle. Over time they built a nice place for themselves and part of it being centralized they can focus more on that type of thing. The pre-rhuidim were local people that lived in the area the viali landed in and their identity suppressed as a people until their rebellion and exile on that side. A big part of rhuns history was upset with viali coming in and culturally pushing out the local beliefs. He was a traditionalist of the technically local fasa/people and independent groups and maybe some nuum. And what kicked things off when the last of the old gods showed up and gave him a book. We are faded and gone, here is a book this is the secrets behind our power, it is yours now, become awesome. Do what you want and rhun used that book to learn and teach sorcery and so at that point this is a sign, we are upset, being pushed, our spiritual beliefs are being muddled they are bringing in their own thing. so now the gods have literally given us power and we will fight back, and this is what started the rebellion. Sorcery was not a thing then. It was not unheard of conceptually as things that existed but that is the point when it became an art taken up by mankind. Instead of some weird power out on its own and sometimes people could nudge it one way or another. Was sorcery the only thing in that book? It is a mystery, or was it the one he latched onto? It is assumed it had other information about the older gods, but it has been lost. When they got booted out? They would not have accepted any help even from Khaldeans. Big cultural point we are our own people. We don't want to let other people impact that.
Q: How common is steel? In the rest of world, and in the Lost Lands? Is the frequency of steel a product of game metal lessening, or actually how it is? Contextual notes: IRL, Iron, one of the core components of steel, is the fourth most abundant element in Earth's crust, making up a whopping 5.63% of it's total mass. It is exceeded only by aluminum, silicon, and oxygen. Another core component of steel production is coal. As of December 31, 2021, estimates of tota world proved recoverable reserves of coal were about 1,161 billion short tons (or about 1.16 trillion short tons), and five countries had about 75% of the world's proved coal reserves. TLDR: That's a lot of coal left even after we as a human society have been collectively using it to work steel for somewhere around a thousand years. One could logically assume similar presence of coal exists on Arad, and given that, the largest limitation to steel production would be infrastructure capable of utilizing those resources. It's likewise logical to conclude that outside of the lost lands, in the most industrious of the nations-- Khaldea, Ivial, etc.-- that steel production is probably doing pretty well. Especially considering Khaldean technological advancements in forges and the like. Throw in Giganti ability to harvest iron, coal, and work those resources on the other side of the continent and you've got a pretty steady supply of the stuff hanging all around. The sensable gap area would be the Lost lands, given it's degraded infrastructure and meriad plagues. The resources are still logically out there and inaccessible, just waiting to be found/harvested. Whether that means previously existing and run down infrastructure like old mines, refineries, etc. or just brand new untapped resources waiting to be dug up, both apply. Staff answer: It's cool because it's rare, on a game mechanics capacity. We want steel to be useful and special and neat for people in the way that it is, but they simultaneously don't want to invalidate the use of bronze, copper, iron, etc. as viable resources. If there was plentiful steel-- that's all anyone would use, and that's no fun! the answer above basically explains it on a world scale as opposed to like a game-limited scale, that said. My exact words were, "If Rias says this guy is wrong and is dumb" that he would certainly correct me on such if it didn't fit his image of the world. But he didn't do so, so it's likely an accurate assumption to make in regard to resource content and the like.
Q: How do Khaldeans view the Occult in general? are there any outspoken Khaldeans or groups that seek to attempt to meld Nuumic Arcana, Rhuidic Constructs and Khaldean technology in some way? A: The occult is a big taboo in general because of their history with Nuum. It's only built up over the years as time continues to go on. They don't like the occult forces at large-- but there are some in particular on the borders of Tol-Rhun who enjoy coordinating their studies with Khaldeans. There have certainly been some neat developments concerning clockwork technology combined with sorcery. They find it as more efficient than just arranging sticks and animating it with nether. Clockwork sorcery is for sure a thing and was actually a fundamental design thought of clok, that those exist. There's some pending lore regarding one family in particular inside of Tol-Rhun who's interested in this specifically. Sorcery combined with clockwork tech and forturgy combined with khaldean tech are certainly things that are going to be more common than not in their works. But the occult is taboo-- not illegal. Frowned upon, culturally wary of it, regardless of it's neat applications. Q: Is that what the Oakhearts are? A: Oakheart's are more typical sorcerous animates, nothing fancy or clockworky about them. They're big ol' wood golems. Q: We saw Oakheart Golem limbs being loaded, but no torsos. Does this mean a Golem is destroyed if its torso is but limbs can be replaced? A: Regarding Oakheart golems, what he's comfortable with saying is that they aren't just something you see hanging around. They're very specifically purposed and resource-intensive. They're made of miscellanious parts-- so if a golem's arm is destroyed, you can put another arm on it. They're Modular things to a certain extent, but there are core components that are irreplaceable-- like, you need a torso to put the other pieces onto. But you can always get another torso.
Q: How do other cultures view the Huecatn claim that they migrated across a celestial pathway (The way of Dreams)? A: The khaldeans are probably like, "Oh, well that's some neat (incorrect) cultural mythology you have there." (Or maybe they just don't understand yet?) The Faewyr have their own suspicions about this-- considering they have their own mystical means of protection cloaking their continent, as well as their own beliefs in differing realms. The Nuum probably have some people specifically devoted to figuring out if they can achieve a similar means of passing through the way of dreams. Maybe the fasa are putting a level of stock in it, as well.
Q: How do the Khaldeans feel about Iarel, seeing as they are anti-occult A: They still acknowledge and seek knowledge from Iarel, with her reputation for creating/having a hand in creating Humanity, as well as her knowledge of human biology. She's not a taboo or anything; she's probably got a better seat in Khaldea than in Nuum! If they were focused on the Occult Side, worshippers, then they would definitely be viewed as weird.
Q: How do the Nuumic and Khaldeans view jewelry? A: Answered above.
Q: How effective is the Wall that keeps Exiles out? A:They aren't crazy about it. People could climb it/sneak over it if they wanted to, but when it comes to the wall: they built it in a panic because of the plague. It never got through the Fey Forest into Karnath anyway. It's not a huge worry coming through the wall. The Hillfolk actually like the wall; it keeps people out (same with the Khaldeans).
Q: I want to know about non-Lost Lands currencies. (personally, specifically khaldean/seven cities but i'm sure other people would appreciate information on other regions') A:Khaldea was one of the folks that put a lot of effort connecting more of the world and the development of common language and riln currency. Hill folk just use riln and not historical forms of currency. Something more to be written up. There was an old Faewyr ones and it was in use in old aetgard until they adopted riln. There were those and vilali coins in other game. later aetgard adopted riln idea from khaldea and agreed on it to bond with old aetgard, dev out of some other currency
Q: Is it generally accepted that the light from the moon comes from the sun? A: Yeah he thinks the Khaldeans have been spreading that idea around.
Q: Is there anything that we as a player base that we'd know of regarding imports and exports from the dominion's core to it's northern territories? A: There's definitely regular importing/exporting that goes on. A lot of folks'll tell you that they're exploiting their territories for their resources-- but the fact of the matter is that the Dominion, regardless of what people say, has an interest in supporting it's territories. Whether it's because they want to exploit them for their resources or because they have an interest in propping them up doesn't matter, because if they don't support them, they won't have any territories to worry about anymore. Which is contrary to their goal of bringing prosperity and safety back to Aetgart. he also mused a while on the logistics of the Khaldean borderlands and the fact that they had to build and continually support the maintenance of a quarantine wall.
Q: Khaldean's attitudes towards steam/water A: They encourage using water responsibly. Some of the land is more desert but they don't totally lack water. It isn't ultra-rare. Is sure they have laws on water usage.
Q: Like in the real world. Cultures have some reputation about food, like some countries are rather fond of extremely spicy foods etc. What I want to know is, what are foods from the different cultures like? Do Klaldeans have rather bland taste? Rhuhidim rather complicated in their recipes, etc? A: Khaldeans like really spicy stuff! Otherwise, he'll have to think about it.
Q: Re: Viali-Nuumic conflict on their shared border. You gave some details about the conflict itself, but mentioned it was recent. How recent specifically? Is a gentle escalation over the last five or six years an acceptable estimate? A: It's not like it's been raging for a long time. Probably started not long before it was actually mentioned (5-6 years at this point maybe). It's kind of a slow burn thing, both nations have their reasons. Some of the residents, at least, have reasons to be happy about the fact they can feel better about having an open conflict with eachother. Others don't. It's not like this big raging war that's affecting the entirety of both nations. The Fasa are probably rolling their eyes about it. The Khaldeans are giggling about it, Nuum have someone else they're fighting now --- privately thinking 'Ah, this is great.' Maybe the Khaldeans will push a little bit or might even have already taken advantage of the situation, but there've been no major changes so far. (No border changes or things like that).
Q: Seeing two recent books titles, which nation might be known for alchemy? A: It's going to depend on your definition. The Khaldeans like to mix things, strengthen metals, things like that --- if you're thinking lead to gold, that'd be Khaldeans (not that they're turning lead to gold. just kind of that alchemical changing metals and things like that). If we're thinking like modern fantasy game alchemy like potions and things like that, that would be the Huecatn.
Q: Since Khaldeans like colorful clothing, does that influence areas nearby? A: Yeah, it's sort of like a status symbol, so the rarer dyes are restricted to the rich, but the culture itself likes colors in general.
Q: There's a certain object from the summer festival with a flower in it, and we're given some minor lore about Khaldeans from that. Are there any other flowers that have well-established meanings or folk legends? A: There are, but none for every cultural in mind at the moment there are some that are forgeable but can be seen in surveys lost folk daisies and the mournboom. Wants to put riln in for them. There is a reason they have those names. there is the language of flowers concepts for whatever he doesn't have a list or thought out but likes the concept that stuff at some point write a document and wouldn't be opposed to assistance for that.
Q: Was there a particular [sartorial] style of the Khaldeans? A: Rias will research that before giving an answer. He was thinking about it, he loves suggestions about fashions/style because he doesn't necessarily think about every angle. At the very least, the Khaldeans *like colours*. It's probably going to be a class thing: the higher class, the more colour you want to show off. C: The Khaldeans have three kind-of-related but distinct sub-cultures: cityfolk, border dwellers and wanderers in between those two. A lot of the cities are crowded along the eastern border (along Tol Rhun and Ivial), people are crowded into the less crusty land/nicer terrain. Khaldeans have the power of science on their side, not just technology. They're willing and dedicated to investigating the natural sciences, whereas the Nuum are more focussed on the occult.
Q: Was there violence and retaliatory uprisings during its construction like there was with the great wall? A: Yes; the Hillfolk weren't thrilled about it, and there was resistance and in-fighting over there during its construction. After a while, they realized the scattered, rustic, leave-us-alone Hillfolk can't stand up against the Khaldeans, Viali and Nuum combined, so they peacefully ceased and went back home. Some of them probably stayed around and messed with them. They just wanted to make a point. Now, they've embraced it, because who wants idiots in their forest!
Q: What do the other cultures think about the Khaldeans' advances? More specifically, do places like Nuum consider Clockwork and Steam to be atempts at overthrowing Arcana? I know Karnath likes there firearms, but how far into Khaldean technology will they go considering some of it may promote more laziness in the workforce? A: The Nuum see it as them trying to get by without arcana. Yep, that is why they left because no one respected and were told they were less because of their lack of interest in the occult. The rest of the world is generally impressed. Hillfolk document, they don't like relying on too much stuff you may lose your ability to do honest hard work but they love flintlocks. They might utilize a thing here or there but they try to not rely on contraptions. They prefer to work by the sweat of their brow, generalized. Hillbrook clan are a little more willing to adopt stuff and are progressive in that. Alebrooks are more likely to build towns instead of farmsteads. A lot of times when there is a big eventthey meet in Alebrook places for facilities for crowds and things.
Q: What's the Geography of Karnath like? We have some idea (hilly, sometimes mountainous region, referenced to in the Hillfolk helpfile), but it'd be nice to get some more ideas of what the region looks like, and what kinds of naming schemes they use for their towns, villages, and hamlets (and if they do have any larger cities, or any trade or port cities of note) A: They have alebrook which is a big town but not a cit but a bustling towns and is the biggest town They have a port town down south on the coast that is pretty big, lots of goods and trade. They have a scattering of towns elsewhere. Hills and mountains, low mountains until you get to the northeast and east and then mountains get bigger. They have some open grassland meadow scattered here and there. No massive plains part of why they call themselves the hill folk There is snow melt, and it is a very idyllic kind of place, fortunate they ended up there, lots or rivers rolling through and some lakes and stuff. It snows at higher elevations. Fey forest is northwest between western coast and mountains. Karnath has a lot of coastline Everyone but nuum has lots of coastline Quarantine wall in southeast going from mountains to coast to the Khladeans that they maintain. Khaldeans toss them goods and they are buddie Names descriptive common names thing alebrooks briarwood springdale stone haven. Would be invaded without the quarantine and a small amount probably try. They get everyone together to beat people back. Not like the nuum giving super fancy names
Q: Who does Nuum fight? Is it all border disputes with Khaldeans and Viali? A: The Nuum are fighting in the Brownlands, currently skirmishing a bit with the Viali. Everyone in Nuum is hoping that someone else will take care of the "war effort". Active conflict is mainly going to be in very specific geographic locations rather than across the Empire. Wherever the actual conflicts are is going to be where they're putting in the most effort. The inhabitants of that region are going to be constantly petitioning to get support from the rest of Nuum. It's going to be a matter of contention between the people who are there where the conflict is happening and the rest. It's going to be a major thing in Nuumic politics, sending people to petition like: "Hey we're trying to defend the border here but also nobody is helping us". It's a thing that's causing some civil strife probably.
Q: Why are Khaldeans so awesome? Like seriously, they're the second coolest race, behind Huecatns! It the plural of Huecatn Huecatn or Huecatns? Huecati? A: Just Huecatn. Loves all his children equally. He is excited to take them in a direction in cogg and give them their own distinct feel this time around. Feel people in the previous incarnation got a feel of industrialized London feel but they are more aesthetically middle eastern.
Q: You ask, What is the relation between Khaldea and Tol Rhun? Both political and, like, the stereotypes that the common people have for each other. Do they still border each other?" A: Rias says, "I'm going to refrain from answering this one because I'm just about to released the document on the Rhuidim! I'm just fussing over changing one particular term to something else and then we'll have it. But yes, they do share a border, and I guess I'll say while the Rhuidim very much prefer to do their own thing their own way, they consider the Khaldeans to be one of the very few peoples they might actually give some measure of trust to and attempt at relations with as neighbors. That's a very broad generalization, but there you go." Rias says, "Rhuidim: "It's us against the world, we're on our own, screw everyone else!... Except maybe the Khaldeans. They can be kind of all right, I guess."."
Q: You say, "The wiki article mentions Hesutu ensures life and health are balanced by entropy and death. Does that mean they have godly influences on sicknesses, or droughts or other weather events that could impact lives? Curious about anything regarding them. Also, I forgot how to check the order of hands raised again for future chats." A: Rias says, "Hesutu does appear to have influence over diseases and decay and all that. Not complete and total control over it, as our Immortals are of the not-omnipotent variety, but he definitely seems to have some significant mojo." Q: You ask, "Blame bonehead for my reading 40k warhammer things, but there was a god of diseases that inspired the question. So Hesutu might not be able to start something, but maybe nudge things?" A: Rias says, "Weather and the like, not so much direct influence, but still seems to have some ability and/or resources to keep the cycle of the seasons going. His favorites are generally known to be autumn and winter." Rias says, "I'd say Hesutu can "start things" with diseases or illnesses if he wanted to." You say, "Does Hesutu have any particular regards towards resen? They don't seem to die from the disease, but become under the influences. Granted I don't know the lifespan of someone afflicted by resen." Rias says, "But Hesutu, like all the Immortals, doesn't always get exactly what he wants. He might start a disease but the intended target(s) could potentially manage to fight it off. I still wouldn't want to be in Hesutu's crosshairs, but just to say that he nor any of the other Immortals are perfect in their spheres, and so they don't enjoy perfect successes or results." Q: You say, "You noted the Khaldean's have pioneered vaccines in the recent wiki addition, so I'm sure that throws wrenches in things." A: Rias says, "The resen thing is usually considered more an infestation and takeover by another major lifeform than a mere disease. Hesutu might have some influence over it, but he's generally considered unassociated or ambivalent. I'd like to note that because Hesutu has an affinity for diseases and the like doesn't necessarily mean that every one that occurs is by his will or under his direction, or even noticed by him. Kind of like how Aranas is associated with lies and deceit, but that doesn't mean that every lie or act of deception is caused, endorsed, or even noticed by Aranas." A: Rias says, "The concept of vaccines is still fairly new, but I think it's safe to say that some of the more devout and zealous adherents of Hesutu find them to be worrisome and a way of getting around the natural evolutions and endings."
Q:- What's your opinion on printing? Is it something that's been invented, yet, in the era COGG is set? How common is it, if so? Is it only restricted to Khaldea etc?" A: Rias says, "Yeah, I'm sure the Khaldeans have come up with it and utilize it, but it's probably not a norm yet. Even if it were easy to assume it was the norm considering other tech levels in the game already, I feel like it would hurt the game setting feel somehow if there were printing-press- produced books everywhere." Rias says, "So I'd say it's a thing, but still relatively rare at this point." Rias says, "Maybe some stingy Khaldean inventor patented it and is keeping it to himself and his privately-owned printing company."
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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Teri
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Nuum, Rhuidim

Post by Teri »

Nuum




-Kebyet is very ambitious and not necessarily only in Nuum. She's Immortal, so she moves around a lot.
-Most races have views on demons/angels/cosmic scale like the Ivial, who have sincubi/aengels. Most places don't put as much effort into categorizing it like the Viali/Constantians. The Nuum have all sorts of different tiers of beings.
-Nuum don't enjoy bloodsports, Huec do.
-Nuum fashion is skimpy but fabulous in Nuum.
-Rhuidim language/script is derived from Nuumic. They're very secretive. There are some similarities with Nuum language, but they have a real alphabet and not hieroglyphics. They said "Screw the Nuum, lol." to change stuff. (Can you blame them?)
Q: How does Fasa clan/family structure work? A: Good question! Needs to dive into still. He has a brief document of the foundation from the person who created it and given permission to work on and draw on their previous incarnation and the race is awesome. The general original idea was based on Native American Indians. wants to throw some of that in but doesn't want to do ignorant white man perspective and not interpreted as white dude caricature, and anyone wishing to do a sensitivity read on that would be helpful. Wants to take inspiration but wants to make them their own. Sort of like Nuum are surface level Egyptian but isn't a reflection of the culture. Don't know the details of it, huge emphasis on family or tribe. Is it all blood or tribe? He is still figuring it out. Wants to set aside Fasa week for them soon.
Q: "They say there's a hidden village in Nuum that appears once only 13 years!" A: The original city that Nuum founded, the quote "City of the Gods", and their powers are gone and nobody knows where it is. People like to go out and search for it and die because they're searching for something they can't find.
Q: (What is the Welcomers' Treaty? I couldn't find further info on it when I looked A: When the Viali first showed up from Constantia and the Fasa helped them get situated and survive and welcomed to the neighborhood the Viali kept claiming land and building walls and forts and defending it. Fasa went yo cut this out, we want you to survive and you are taking too much land. They had a little war the north of the landing on the southeast and it wasn't terrible because they liked each other and eventually the Fasa kicked their butts and Viali stopped and went: We are going to create a treaty, this land we were trying to take, this land is Fasa land forever. The Fasa went whatevs land is land, didn’t don't care about the land, but you gifted us this land we fought you from claiming in the first place? Whatever. Fasa don't let nuum through? Fasa don't let nuum though? Previously the nuum would try to claim the land, less you can't travel on this land more you can't claim this is your land. They think in general claiming land by other groups is stupid. Q:Trade routes or outpost? They are wary of the nuum making a tradepost. They are okay with a tiny port settlement. Any presence nuum have on the waters is from that spot. It is a favourite place for viali troublemakers to harass them. What if an army tried to march from nuum? They won't like any marching but nuum could potentially go around the ivial border wall and try to flank the Viali. Fasa and viali are buddies. They wouldn' run in and fight, but they would tip off the Viali. The fasa do have certain areas they consider sacred that don't want other people coming into. Could be considered hypocritical that apply that to sacred spots. The Fasa think any nation trying to take over land is stupid and stop any from trying near them. They have done things their way roaming with animals and stuff for a long while totally fine. They see big forts and claiming land, and see it leads to war or overharvesting areas or changing the landscape. Like walls, they don't like them. What gives you the right to some of this land is the general consensus of Fasa’s opinion on it. Q:Nuum Trade routes or outposts in Fasa lands? They are wary of the nuum making a tradepost. They are okay with a tiny port settlement. Any presence nuum have on the waters is from that spot. It is a favourite place for viali troublemakers to harass them. What if an army tried to march from nuum? They won't like any marching but nuum could potentially go around the ivial border wall and try to flank the Viali. Fasa and viali are buddies. They wouldn' run in and fight, but they would tip off the Viali. The fasa do have certain areas they consider sacred that don't want other people coming into. Could be considered hypocritical that apply that to sacred spots. The Fasa think any nation trying to take over land is stupid and stop any from trying near them. They have done things their way roaming with animals and stuff for a long while totally fine. They see big forts and claiming land, and see it leads to war or overharvesting areas or changing the landscape. Like walls, they don't like them. What gives you the right to some of this land is the general consensus of Fasa’s opinion on it.
Q: are licenses required for other occult branches? A: For Nuum, yes. They definitely want to keep a handle on all that type of stuff.
Q: Are people with fancy eye colours born with e.g. normal blue eyes, and then it transitions into these kind of gem colors, like sapphire etc.? A: No, those are part of the physiology of mostly the Nuum, there are a couple of others. They're born with the fancy gem eyes.
Q: Are the Nuum against other races coming into their cities? A: Some could visit but they'd definitely be treated differently. C: COGG isn't a perfect world; some of these cultures are difficult. Some of these cultures' focuses are awful! But a lot of making a fantasy world is modelling it after reality. He hopes it is seen by people as a believable parallel with our world. This world isn't how he believes the world should be. C: One of the differences between the Rhuidim and Nuum is that, with the Rhuidim the bloodline in terms of following relations back to Rhun himself is the thing, whereas with the Nuum the taboo of mixing with other peoples' cultures is more of a general physiological thing (dilution of genetic enhancements), though there is definitely going to be some prestige in being descended from Nuum herself or her students. C: Other races have weird and wonderful physiological features, too. Rhuidim are kind of monochromatic, they're grayscale. Giganti are really big and tall, which is attributed to their kind of different creative mythology. C: There are ugly Nuum as well! It's more just like, a lot of people will agree that the ceiling is higher for beauty standards with the Nuum. It could have a big effect for people who are higher up in class. There might be times where higher-ups specify "Oh we're not going to let you marry this person because they're ugly."
Q: Are the Nuum copying or creating? A: Rias can't give a certain answer here. It's always going to be up to people to speculate or determine for themselves. Are the Nuum just hacking things together, or figuring it out for themselves? Kebyet was lifted into immortality by someone else, rather than "becoming" an immortal by discovering the secrets of immortality. She is now considered to be up there and learning things, elevating herself from there. It was suggested by a not-Rias that perhaps the Nuum are trying to pull information from Kebyet, as their woman on the inside.
Q: Are the Nuumic still super pretty with fancy eyes due to magic? Or some other cause? A: They do seem to have unusual qualities such as their eye colour, and they seem to be beautiful people on average.
Q: Are there any current Immortals listed on the wiki (aside from Vodr) who would be considered a Prime Immortal? What makes a Prime Immortal Prime? A: Yes, there are others on there that are Prime Immortals; he doesn't want to go a lot into it, but Vandin is one of them, whereas Naia, Nereia, and Serafina are NOT Prime Immortals, they're low on the power influence scale. Shethsut and other Nuumic stuff, the Nuum had tiers: Big Boys and Tons and Tons of Lesser Bois varying in scale and power and stuff; Ol' Shethy has been gone a long, long time.
Q: Are there any notable special force groups for the Nuumic military? What do they do? A: They have the occult ones who use all manner of occult tricks in espionage or assassination, or mass disruption of enemy troops. There are all sorts of fun things they can do with the occult abilities available to them. You're also going to have conventional, non-occult specialists as well. He doesn't really have any specifics in mind for that.
Q: Are there any particular weapons the nuum carry for ceremonial purposes? A: He doesn't know. The typical kind of stuff. Perhaps the kopesh ("that lil' hookedy-sword thing"). He hadn't really thought a whole lot about it and is going to need to consult with our local weapons enthusiasts.
Q: Are there are differences in how one would worship Bogvaskr vs Rahmi? A: Yes. The Nuum have a lot more focus on the skill of archery and less so on the affinity for wild beasts. Once the Nuum were the Nuum, they didn't really do much in the way of hunting, because of the sites they were able to settle. it was mainly through farming and crops and such; not a whole lot to hunt for out where they are. At the point they became the Nuum, rather than the tribes they came from, hunting wasn't really a thing that happened very often.
Q: Are there other places in the world, other than Nuum, that take slaves? A: In Twy Wyr so the clanless can be captured. It is less formal slavery but you have no rights try to escape I cna kill you. Other than that it could be a semantic thing of those captured through clan wars working for their clan after being defeated so instead of killing they take them as servants. Not an offical system but conquered and depends on the clan. Some do, some don't. None as govt sanctioned beyond nuu,
Q: Could you elaborate a little more on the relationship between Nuum and Undm? She is not listed in the list of respected Immortals in the main Nuum file, but her own file suggests people are taught to respect her to not upset her. A: Might be considered more of a Charon situation where they are part of getting you to the afterlife but necessary a great cosmic thing. Still an immortal and still has a big role. They aren’t a prominent a place as other immortals. They still knowledge Undm. They don’t seem to be squashing that one out, they are on the whitelist
Q: Cultural views on body modification (tattoos and piercings): A: hasn't been thought about much. Giganti, Fasa, Faewyr all commonly have tattoos (and maybe piercings). Nuum are also cool with tattoos.
Q: Did the Rhuidim break free from the nuum? A: It can be assumed that they're part of the line of the Nuum, but also the Fasa a bit. It can be assumed there was also some mixing between the Rhuidim and Viali before the big conflict broke out.
Q: Do family names have impact?A: It depends on the names they have made for themselves. C: Regarding homes and housing he imagines a lot of Nuum share living areas. Not all in one room, but there are buildings that connect Individual family groups, and leaders/heads they look to within the building. Multiple families in a single building. Bonds are both blood-related and unrelated. Some of that is based on architecture, but it is based on the conditions they live in and they don't have a lot of room to spread into it. They don't hate the conditions. They make it work. When issues or things need to be taken care of in a family, if someone in the family can't handle it, they can ask for help from their fellow community in the building. The higher in status individuals are, the more ambitious they are, the more they try to seem standoffish and be independent. There's a more distinct individualism the higher you are. The lower classes are not really going to care. If they have ambitions to rise in society they might want to find opportunities to stand out perhaps, but it's not thing where all Nuum are assholes. He doesn't think they're necessarily concerned with the houses/heritage more or less than other cultures. The conditions they live in do have some effect: they don't have a wide area to spread into. A lot of it is arid unworkable land, so they have to pack closer together in their population centres. For the most part they enjoy it, or they don't hate it. (If Bean has more followups please BBS). The higher they get the more they want to be their own; the more ambitious someone is the more they might try and avoid co-habitation.
Q: Do the Nuumic have any military presence outside Nuum? A: They might want to but no one else wants them to. Everyone else kind of assumes if they start pushing somewhere, they're just going to start taking things over. There are going to be rumours, but no known garrisons or fortresses. They're very inward-looking anyway. They would like to have some nicer land, but on the other hand they do have their own little pockets of magic land anyway that serve them really well. They're in pockets out there, it's just not viable to expand out in the desert. They're more interested in cultivating what they've got. There is a small amount of ambition to get more land, nonetheless, and they also want to continue to assert that they're a mighty Empire. Part of that is having land and preventing competitors from having more land. If they ever tried to move military forces to their port, both the Fasa and Viali would be like: "uh-uh". They could try it at some point, but it would be like ... it isn't going to be received well, so they'd have to think about it. C: He always imagined that there are a good number of Nuum who are going out and about outside of Nuum because they want to improve other places as well as their own. They're met with suspicion by some, others think "Oh, that's nice of them". As prideful and such as they are, that's not the only facet of them. A lot of them definitely do have this idea that they're trying to get humankind to ascend. "We're trying to get everyone to reach the next level of being". There's an obvious tendency for them to be like "We're better than you", but that's not necessarily to the exclusion of all else. There are going to be some that are saying "We would like to include other peoples, at least the ones we don't hate". It's a less common mindset, but not unheard of by any means.
Q: Does the Nuum have a known coat of arms for their military? A: No, but would be fun to come up with.
Q: Elemancy is no longer a thing, yes? I believe I've heard you mention they (Nuum) are focused on Arcana now? A: Elemancy is not really a thing any more. The occult is more of a privileged thing for Nuum rather than a commonly taught thing.
Q: has Nuum ever come into physical contact with Immortals, battles? A: It's safe to say there are stories that allude to that, but no solid examples, e.g. Iarel stepping all over them or whatever to punish them. C: The immortals appear to be extremely hands off generally, as a side-note.
Q: How alike are the Brownlands and the Lost lands. The helpfile on Khaldea makes it sound like they're as bad in terms of lawlessness, just without the nethrim and infested. Is that accurate? A: He wouldn't say that they're especially comparable. the brownlands is more of a conflict zone, a hotzone between two peoples. It's also not the most hospitable place: it's arid and crusty. He wouldn't say there are a bunch of people that are living out there in settlements. It's also a significantly smaller region, the Lost Lands are huge compared with the Brownlands. The Brownlands is just a border region between Nuum and Khaldea.
Q: How are slaves, on the average, treated in Nuum? Are there places where slaves are treated markedly better or worse? Are slaves considered property above all, or a vital part of a household? Q: Are slaves or servants kept anywhere else? Prisoners of war, indentured servants, et cetera? Q: How do the Nuum feel about slavekeeping per race? Would they prefer slavestock of Nuum origin or other races? Or is it related to the task they would be performing? Do Nuum take slaves with the intention of putting them at one singular task (cooking) or for general family matters? A: They can be both. There are some that are community resource and others own by individuals. IT is going to depend where you are and who is giving orders. He imagines there is some kind of standard of treatment but likely isn’t heavily enforced. Slaves in Nuum are just the nuum themselves, they are not enslaving other races. It is a role in nuumic society filled by nuum. They will try to find reasons if a vilia came in and broke laws they might try to find a way He is thinking about it but 99% it is the nuum themselves and part of the social scale and system. There are nuumic slavers. It if did happen it would be illegal. There are awful people doing awful things trying to get away with it. Lower than the lower class thing. There are rumors they do these things and say things that are happening or not but it is not endorsed by the nuum. They are trying to make it sound like it legal and capturing people
Q: How do people learn arcana in Nuum? They have things they try to be subtle for common folk with occult. Example: Kids try this subtle, easy thing and the results are good for them having talents and bringing them in for specific talents and may take them under their wing for education if they seem very skilled and funnel them to useful things (note takers comment on funneling them towards things) Another example: Hey kids, look at these paintings and they include diagrams and they can "ask what did you see or feel” or ask if something clicked or they got something from it. Kid understands there is a shape or form. They get really mesmerized or say they are getting headaches and not. People also have the means or other trade of goods or shady dealings to ask to test their children if they really want them to have opportunities. (If a player looks at an arcane circle and they don’t know a rune, they won’t know what it is within it) The glyphs we know in the arcana system are ones the Nuum know about. Depending on their jobs many maintenance workers would know the same ones taught in the library.They would be very picky about what they give out and don't want everyone knowing. Higher ups can request testing and have funds for it.
Q: How do the Nuum view Vandin? A: BBS. That's his new thing, just draggin' everything to the BBS. Vandin is one of the things that the Nuum aren't trying to quash. By the way, we all say Vand-IN, but it's really Van-DEEN. They're not like 'We revere this Immortal, it's more like this Immortal helps us store and retain knowledge and share itwith the people we want to share it with. There's this being, it has these benefits that we can utilize. It's all about the storage and dissemination of information.
Q: How does ivial's justice system work, if you have a more specific idea of it than what's implied in some of the articles on viali/ivial? A: Imagines they have an involved and entangled and obnoxious justice system with red tape and weird posturing and it is all very painful to get through things. They do try to be merciful. A lot of their big criminals they exiled. Nuum and tol rhun are more likely to execute. Giaganti they would tend towards execution or exile, it would depend on the tribe or clan and what the crime was. Huactans: You can rot or be a sacrifice. They are pretty tough folks and can be aggressive but don't do a lot of killing even in wars but they are big on taking prisoners and showing they are better and can outdo the others. They try to get the other side to admit defeat or flee or take prisoners. The other lands: Would likely more life in jail and exile.
Q: How frequent are the innovations that the Nuum are creating? How common is it for them to either discover something new or improve on something existing? A: He wouldn't say it was especially common. It's going to be tough for them to do. Much of what the Nuum are doing is done by the higher-ups; they're not sharing what it is they're working on. Occasionally they reveal a new project, putting it out there to improve an aspect of society (civics, military, etc.) Yes the Nuum have a high opinion of themselves, but it's not all a lie, they are verifiably improving on things sometimes. They are very prideful generally speaking, as you would expect as they're making this attempt at becoming/exceeding the gods. There's certainly going to be some desire for power, but that's not all it is; the Nuum are not just saturday morning, predictable villains, they want to learn about how the world works. There is, however, a lot of government control.
Q: How old is the resen presence on Arad? (older than Nuum? Younger than Nuum but older than Viali? etc.) A: It's definitely been around a very, very long time. He doesn't know how he's going to answer that yet. It does bring him back to thinking about timeline post that was made.
Q: How relevant is racism in the rest of the world? A: Tries to create a balance of realism and not awfulness. If it didn't exist awesome but it isn't believable that there could never b a case where groups didn't form blanket opinions on race or profession or whatever. It wouldn't feel believable. He does think racism is bad, but it does exist. As a more large-scale thing. In Arad the easterners look down on westerners and feel they are more cultured and educated where the west is more primitive and barbaric and so. Hillfolk history of people blond hair blues meant affinity for inner light and crusaded as blanket racist thing and a horrible act. The Nuum see themselves above everybody.
Q: I noticed materials lists bloodglass as a lithic. Is it naturally found, or made from something else? Is it also only found in deserts? A: It seems exclusive to the deserts of Nuum; in the Other Game there was blood sand that you had to smelt into bloodglass, that won't be the case here, probably. It's probably a similar concept, though.
Q: In Nuum, the scarab means new life and rebirth. It is said to have meaning to the people of Tol Rhun, but not what that meaning is. Would you be willing to elaborate on this? A: Similar to how it's a symbol of rebirth, the Rhuidim use it as a symbol of rebirth as a people outside of Nuum. They try to be their thing, they did their rebellion even if they were thwarted, so now they're trying to rise again. The scarab is a symbol of this.
Q: In the Winter Solstice helpfile, we are given traditions for a few different cultures. Are there any special Winter Solstice things celebrated in Nuum, Tol Rhun, or Khaldea? A: Probably Khaldea. The other two maybe but doesn’t feel like they would focus on anything. Khaldea would do a thing similar to Aetgard did which was adopt customs because they are a more of a embracing other cultures type place than most others. Not their own, but embracing what others brought with them when they moved there. It will be nice to do stuff like that to encourage trade and in education.
Q: Is the "we don't need no immortals" attitude still a thing among the Nuum? A: As the Nuum will tell it, they've learned what they need to know from the immortals. They've served their purpose, and now the Nuum will become greater. They're trying to stop people thinking about the Immortals and have them concentrate on exceeding them.
Q: Is there any particular city region the Nuum have military presence in? A: They all have their own. Though technically an empire, they all feel they can rise above the others. The biggest seat of power is going to have the bigger military presence.
Q: Is there druidry in Nuum? A: It exists there, but it's not particularly common. There's the occasional Druidic Nuum. Thaumaturges? Even rarer. Q: What tools are they using for druidry tattoos? A: This mystical thing they can't share (he doesn't really know!)
Q: NUUM LORE: How do they view each other re: Arcana and Sorcery? A: Rilulth's Understanding: Each to their own. If you're a Sorceror, you'll look down on Arcana and vice versa, and no one likes Druidry.Rias' Answer: "They favor Arcana, they can figure it out and use it in a way to become more powerful than connecting to something else. They favor Arcana over anything else."Would they as a nation view Arcana as more status-wise? Yes.
Q: On a related note, what is the Nuumic view of the afterlife? Are they trying to find ways around it so they are reliant on one less Immortal? I believe Nuum primarily practices Arcana, as I recall, but do they - openly or secretly with government approval - delve into sorcery at all, for this aim or otherwise? A: Raincheck on that answer but he doesn’t know how much he wants to say. Might be better as a BBS post.
Q: On the other wiki, Nuum is listed as using magic to beautify their bodies. And haircut NPCs could magically change your hair length. Does this sort of magic exist in COGG? Could this be a Society? Give me magic hair and perfect skin over cults and mushroom-hunters any day! A: He doesn't want it to be just a matter of using a magical spell to do XYZ in changing appearance; it's too fantastic and too impermanent. If it was a thing, it'd be a temporary thing. The lore still stands that Nuum used to use magic to beautify themselves, hence them being super gorgeous people.
Q: Perhaps more controversially, are slaves still a part of Nuumic culture? Is the little 'trivia' bit about bad students being made into slaves and pretty-eyed slaves being elevated true? A: Yes, they're still a thing.
Q: RE: Landmarks of the world. Feel free to pass on this one, but I’ve always thought about it. Where is the worlds tallest mountain? What’s its name? The largest river? Are there any large man-made structures similar to the quarantine wall (in notoriety) that might be considered a, “wonder of the world” for lack of a better term? A: The main cities in Nuum, there are built structures that are awe-inspiring there. Also the main tower in Tol Rhun: it's a big circular city built around a large central tower. Another example of impressive human architecture is Deepholm, which would probably be considered one of the wonders of the world. Subterranean architecture that doesn't cave in? A wonder to many foreign architects, but the Giganti attribute it to the Mountain Father (though they do have their own techniques). Tallest mountain? Don't know that! But sure, Fae Forest. The Ice Mountain is "moderately chunky", apparently. It's on a range that meets the quarantine wall, though the spine of it carries on and even expands out underwater [T: out of the Main, I think was said]. Serpent River is probably the biggest river in Nuum, that's pretty big, though it may not be the biggest in the world.
Q: Shethsut vs. The Blood God: A: Rias hasn't made changes from Other Game.- Nuum might view Blood God differently. We can't really know. Shethsut might be different. Who knows.
Q: The new Nuum file is great! The description of the hierarchy made me curious: is social position by lineage or purely meritocratic or somewhere between? A: Supposed to be by merit and who the leaders decide on, but also consider family or friends. A lot of nepotism. Interesting dynamic because when a leader switches they can change who they want but they can appeal to someone specifically, they don't want to show too much loyalty to one because they want to stay with the next and don't want to be booted out. They want to do a good job but not look devoted.
Q: The Nuum have licensing for arcana, so what punishments are there for people who learn without a license? Additionally, what punishments for deliberately spreading knowledge of arcane workings? A: if you do it without a license you could technically be kicked all the way down to slave class for breaking rules. But if you do it and you've shown potential for it, there's a chance one of the higher ups would take you aside, get them licensed and employ them, possibly, but there'd still be some punishment (servitude). It depends a lot on luck and opportunities.
Q: The Rhuidim are devoted to Rhun, who they feel is their ancestor. Do they have strong feelings for any other Immortal? A: They're pretty solidly focused on Rhun. Their take is similar to the Nuum in that they feel the Old Gods are gone (hence Rhun having the Book and his whole rebellion). There are still some Rhuidim that are still acknowledging the Gods, viewing them as a thing in the past, or saying that they were diminished but not gone entirely. They're primarily focused on their own ascension and Rhun.
Q: Their facial features are from ivial? Where are their features from? A: They are a product of ivial and mixing. How they are now with pale tones and monochrome looks that is assumed to be from all their sorcerous stuff and what they learned from the book. Sort of think like the nuum they tampered with their bodies because they stand out in a crowd. It's not just like, pale skin it looks different than a hillfolk or faewyr. It is looks distinctly pale and different from other people. With heritage with darker skin tones, something had to have happened to change it.
Q: There are various stories and lore-bits about Immortals doing things for mortals: people seeking knowledge from Malfant, Iarel granting knowledge in exchange for favors and tasks, etc. Are these myths and legends, or are these things common or well-known enough to be considered something someone could reasonably expect to happen to them? Are they myth and legend or are they well-acknowledged facts? Would a follower of Iarel reasonably expect to meet with her and be allowed to perform a task for her for knowledge? Would an 'atheist' in-setting be mocked as denying something as evident as the sun in the sky? Are there some immortals known to meddle more and some known to never interact with people? A: It leans more towards myths and legends. Obviously, you don't just get in line at the Temple and have Iarel recognize you and stuff. There are no specifics, but there are tons of myths and legends about it having Big Stuff in world events. The vast majority of people in this world accept that there are Immortals, though they don't necessarily agree on how to interpret them. It would be odd for someone to say Immortals aren't real, also, though there may be people who deny it; atheism, in the sense of denying Immortals, is pretty rare though obviously lots of Nuum aren't religious. The point where Vodr disappeared/died is where people generally agree that something happened to reduce Immortals in the lives of mortals.
Q: There was mention previously of an in-character theory (as evidenced by one of the shelving books) that glyphs draw power from eldritch horrors; how does this fit with the Nuumic "we don't need no immortals" attitude? Do they have a different theory? A: It's one of those theories, people just don't know. The Nuum, they kind of see Arcana as their continuing mastery over the occult, as they tell it. They do have occultists that can do things without arcana diagrams. It's rare, but they have those people. They want to pass on mastery of these things so that others can do them as well, for the good of society. Kaiju asked how many people in the VC had actually played CLOK. Rias really likes that there's a balance of people who hopefully enjoyed/loved CLOK and people that are completely new. It's good to get two different perspectives of the world, looking at why things are differentfrom/similar to the previous game.
Q: What are the Nuumic views on halfbloods (Nuum/other race) or other races in general gaining power in Nuum? what about specifically in Nuum's military? A: For the most part they're going to look down on stuff like that, as you might expect. They're a prideful society. A lot of them do feel like they're almost a different people from the rest of humanity at this point. The theory is that the Nuum have been tampering with their physical bodies; there's speculation that that's why they're a beautiful people. Mixing that up would often be seen as a bad thing (though that's a generalisation): it would be diluting something they believe their race has worked toward and they'd see that as something of a regression.
Q: What are the Nuumic views on Verungnr? A: They don't think a whole lot about Verungnr, aside from the general stuff. They're fairly landlocked, though may still have some lore about the monstrosity in the oceans. He needs to consider these things.
Q: What do followers of Iarel and Naia think of their counterparts, including the Immortals themselves? Particularly Nuumic followers. A: The Nuum have a fun relationship with the Immortals. With Iarel, they get conflicted with a lot of people, because most races see Iarel at the top of the cosmic power scale (or near the top, she's by Vodr) and the Viali/Constantians see her as their creator (as a people), whereas the Nuum play down Iarel and try to shut her down and say things like "Things are inflated." or suggest people lied about her importance, etc due to their desire to shut down Immortals. Naia is one of the few that still has respect with the Nuum, somewhat in part due to her being associated with rivers and the Nuum having their super important river they depend a lot on. As much as they try to play down Immortals, the river Immortal is one they can't shove out of peoples' minds because some places depend super-strongly on the river. There are also differences such as Bogvaskr, called Rami by the Nuum, so it gets complicated. The Nuum and Immortals are complicated on their own, and then the Nuum being full of themselves makes stuff complicated with other races.
Q: What do Nuum think of other forms of the occult, particularly sorcery and bardic words? Assuming the 'we don't need no immortals' thing is still in-place, I imagine they don't care for Druidry, but the Nuumic philosophy seems to have some overlap with Rhun's 'we are the immortals now' teachings? A: Words of Power fit in pretty well with Arcana. Sorcery is less common. It is more controlled and out of the public eye. He's sure that Druidry is a thing, but it's not especially prominent. They're on the track where they believe they've learned everything the Immortals have to teach and have ascended to the next level; they consider Druidry another tool in their toolbox. The prevailing theory is: this is a power and we are controlling this power, it exists and we can use it. We've observed this, figured it out and now we can do it for ourselves (rather than drawing on an entity).
Q: What does Iarel worship look like, and does it vary much by culture? A: It varies vastly by culture. He hates to put it off, but he wants to write about it, but then he doesn't write more in a timely fashion. A1: In Ivial, they share the general theory that she created Mankind (or at least the Constantians, who migrated to become the Viali), so she's a Creator Figure to them though they don't want a theocracy, so they intentionally distance themselves from her. Hence Serafina. A2: The Nuum have that very complicated relationship with her; it started out with her giving them knowledge and teaching people how to use a lot of Arcane techniques/training/teachings, but now she's taught them everything she can so they're in charge. They don't really worship. A3: The Faewyr have a complicated relationship with Iarel as well. She's definitely very powerful in their view, but also a wild card. They're not sure what she's going to do, or whether they can depend on her to do anything for them. Some definitely try to beseech her/get her attention to get knowledge, particularly about occult stuff and medical/biology (human), but she's also dangerous. She doesn't always pay attention to Mortalkind and sometimes may forget about them, or mess with them accidentally. A4: The Rhuidim believe the Immortals' time is over now because Rhun had that book and the Immortals are fairly faded out. Individuals might look at her, but they overall have a weird view. Definitely not a prominent thing in Tol Rhun.
Q: What does the Nuumic military look like? How big is it? Do they have particular preference on wich class they draw or draft from? Does it have restrictions? is it considered honorable or dishonorable to fight in the military, or is it just a duty? A: Something he probably has to think about. With Nuum they have the same kind of attitude to a lot of things: you've got the grunts doing the grunt work. A lot of times they'll look down on people who are bigger and stronger and broader etc. because they think physical labour is for workers. One way to help get some prestige, admittedly, is to join the military. On the other hand, a lot of people look at that as sort of demeaning manual labour. That'll change as you move up the line. A tactician or commanding role would be a lot more honourable. You've also got military people who are doing things using their occult talents. That's a completely different story, they're definitely going to be highly regarded by Nuumic society.
Q: What is the general break on 'arranged marriages for political benefit' vs 'marriage for love' across Arad? I suspect the Lost Lands are on the 'marriage for love' end for the most part. What is marriage like in Nuum, if it exists? A:Not something he has thought about specially for nuum. Could see some nuum trying to impress and are sought after for occult prowess It is a thing for Tol Rhun and Iviali and a lot of emphasis on bloodlines in Rhun
Q: What might the Nuumic oppinion be on other culture's forms of occult or similar, e.g. Giganti Rune Carving? A: They're probably interested. Re: Rune Carving they'd probably be fine with it, but the Nuum are not A-okay with the Mountain Father so it wouldn't work anyway.
Q: What sorts of Occultism do the Nuum partake in? A: They're most focused on Arcana, Sorcery is also common. Rias doesn't know that they're into Druidry, some might be but it's not their thing."They view Druidry as appealing to other beings whereas they want to be the Gods. Thaumaturgy is even rarer than it would have been in Other Games, it's mostly the Viali. People do it in other places, but it's pretty rare. There could be a Nuum thaumaturge."
Q: What's family life like in Nuum? Is such a thing as familial bond even important to them? If so, how's it structured? For example, is someone meant to take the role of head of the household? Do the parents raise the child together, or is it a slave's job to do so? Are there roles the parents take?A: They have marriage. High-up nobles have servants who do the majority of the work and child-raising and lower classes are doing it themselves without servants. Family is no less important than in other cultures. There are going to be distinct differences between the higher and lower social classes. The lower classes aren't going to care how it looks unless they are trying to stand out and get beyond their class.
Q: why haven't we heard of certain immortals e.g. harbingers? A: the Nuum's influence might account for a lot of it. They can say... "oh why bother paying attention to these gods with a negative influence. you can cancel them." Not just the Nuum, just people who don't want this stuff to be happening. The Rhuidim are like: "we're going to be our own immortals, help ourselves", as opposed to the Nuum who are going to straight up replace the Immortals(?). C: If you're playing a Rhuidim that isn't a sorcerer or inclined that way... perhaps they'd turn back to the Immortals for guidance.
Q: Would slaves be the ones probably dying more as fodder? Are there any requirements for all Nuum of a certain class to serve for any amount of time? A: Yeah. It's not like there are just droves and droves of slaves, though. You're also going to have people that are volunteering. In the lower classes, you'll also probably going to have those who are required to serve a certain amount of time. As long as you're not one of the slave class, you do get compensated/paid for it, though. People can use it as an opportunity to earn a place for themselves. If they do well, they can work their way up that ladder.
Q: You ask, " Nuum has some scattered respect for some Immortals. Iarel as the one that started them on the path to ascension. Naia for the lifegiving rivers. Are there any dark immortals that might particularly appeal to the Nuumic mindset? Either for practical benefit (Naia) or because they still have things to teach that Nuum doesn't think they've already figured out and surpassed? A: Rias says, "There's always the classic going to Malfant for forbidden information, but that also tends to be more individual and kind of kept quieter." Rias says, "The Nuum are mostly doing their thing where they try to keep Immortals talked down, so I think beyond those that have a particularly prominent place in their history and culture that they haven't been able to hush up (Iarel and Naia as mentioned) I think the rest are pretty subdued. Though I can ponderon that and possibly elaborate further at a later time." Rias says, "Oh, Vandin. Vandin is one of the few that's still somewhat publically recognized. Undm as well." Rias says, "Iarel is well-known in Nuum but the relationship between her and the Nuum is not a great one at the moment. But yeah, for the Darker Types, I may have to ponder a bit more, since they're more newly-introduced to the lore OOC-wise."
Q:Eugor says, "Someone is requesting information on the family structures be added for the Nuum. I think you mentioned something about adding more racial information to the help system. Just a side note unless you wish to answer now. I know you're on a time crunch." A:Rias exclaims, "Gotcha. I'll add it to my to-do list!"
Q:The Harbingers going to be for a set collection of Immortals, or could a player invent their own local Dark Immortal from their home town or something? A: Major dark ones are very vague and hands off, something village local would a local spiritualized belief in. When you get to that point and it isn't recognized or is maybe a primal entity. Numm had limited scope of minor immortals but that was specific to the nuum cities. something outside would be a very vague local village disbelief. Could be a backstory one, but minor. Harbingers are a very specific line up of immortals. Is it acceptable for players to invent 'minor' Immortals? I believe there is lore in several places mentioning immortals of a single village or location. A: Maaaybe. Email about it first so it isn't wildly conflicting Q: Or even a 'dark' interpretation of a not-traditionally-Dark ImmortalLike if a Harbinger Faewyr wanted to worship Iarel as the 'bringer of storms and natural disasters because she don't give an F' A:: The goal of harbingers is to bring recognition to an immortal that isn't well recognized and is a very specific group of immortals depending on interpretations. Part of the reason harbingers are a thing is that their followers say they were dealt a bad hand because they don't get the recognition of other immortals. Darker interpretations likely not, because then it gets weird. Why is vandin giving harbinger powers when they are not typically associated and blurs things.



Rhuidim


Q: If someone traced sorcery back to its origins, would it actually lead back to Tol Rhun, or have sorcerors been a part of all cultures. A: The earliest, most concrete stuff points to Tol Rhun, but plenty of people believe it was around before then. Even the Rhuidim say "Okay, Rhun got the book, and it was the secret to the Gods' power, and it was Sorcery but the Gods have been around so Sorcery was a thing that just wasn't commonly observed by humans." So they say they pioneered it, basically.
Q: Is reanimation or any aproximity to life after death only a clok thing?" Rias asks, "When you say reanimation, are you referring to the Rook ability from CLOK, Minor Animation. A: Rias says, "If so, it's a thing in the lore, and I plan to have it be a Warlock ability (with the aid of the Rooks). In the almost-finished(tm) article on the Rhuidim I have here, it talks about their usage of sorcery in controversial ways, including reanimation of the dead for labor or informational purposes and the like. It's a very limited reanimation, not a true resurrection or anything like that." Darkangel asks, "Not, exactly. i don't know if i am making much sense here, but, if anything is reanimated, revived, or anything of the like by nether, how much Sentience would it have?" A: Rias says, "The reanimation done by most human sorcerers tends to be very limited, and the bodies need to be in a state fit for life in order to be reanimated. If someone died to getting their head chopped off or organ failure or something, the only reanimation they're suitable for at that point is just raw physical components. A frame to be animated and controlled wholly by sorcery, essentially. If all the major organs are still intact the body may be jump-startable into a limited form of biological life and autonomy, but mental functions are extremely limited and it still needs to be guided into what it's supposed to be doing by the animating sorcerer. It's rumored that some extremely powerful sorcerers can bring people back in a "better" state than that, but that's the realm of rare NPCs of significant power (and also may just be misinformation or propaganda - who knows if the rumors are true?)."
Q: Rhuidim are pro-Sorcery, how do they feel about Sorcery-associated Immortals like Aranas and Malfant? How do they feel about the netherim? That's their jam, they would have liked Alorin, right? A: They like sorcery and the netherim and stuff, and feel that Sorcery is an ascended power of the Gods that they can now use to better their lives and stuff. As far as the Dark Immortals go who are tied to the nether/assumed to be tied to the nether: it depends, based on the individual Rhuidim or circle you're linked to. Some will see them as contenders (Immortals who use sorcery to ascend and are their competition) and others may see them as a valuable resource to gain their own ascendance/guidance towards it, while still desiring their own future growth over an Immortal.
Q: What culture are Rhuidim based off of? A: None. Doesn't have a real-world basis which is why they are harder to write on in some way.
Q: Also, lots of the Gods have "Spheres" of Influence. Amon-Rhun is listed as an Immortal...but, he doesn't seem to represent anything besides "Ascension Using Sorcery". Is that his thing? A: When it comes to the Ascended Immortals, they don't necessarily have a Sphere; they aren't on the same scale as the other Immortals, because they aren't at that point in their Immortality. They have their Thing, sure; his Thing is obviously using Sorcery to Ascend, but he's not widely considered outside of Tol Rhun. Kebyet is about dance and manipulation (Rias claimed this was negative, but let's face it, girls gonna get that bread in this day and age). They don't have the same Cosmic Sphere.
Q: Could you talk about the lore of the Amon-Rhun and the relation between him and the families of the Rhuidim? A: He was the one that received the book that taught him the ways. He was considered a kind of 'chosen one'. That's why there's a lot of importance placed on blood ties for Rhun; you can sort of share that ascended-ness if descended from him. There's a lot of prestige associated with it ... but of course you have to prove it. How diluted is your bloodline, is your claim genuine? Some efforts have been made to keep the higher sorcerer's training in those lines. They don't want to lose their prestige, their exclusive access to super powers, so it's not too available to others.
Q: Hi! In general, can you give us an idea of what Tol Rhun is like?
Q: I feel like I asked this in some form before, but I can't remember. Since Tol Rhun is a Monarchy, and the Shackled One is trapped in his hidden Shrine kinda advising, do they worship him there, or are they more after power and don't care about him?
Q: So, lots of Tol Rhun questions this week. We know Amon-Rhun is all Shackled up, and he doesn't still "lead" the country. What kind of Government system do they have then? Is it a Central Monarchy type thing, or a bunch of Sorcerer Lords ruling over fiefs? A: In Tol Rhun, it's very much a monarchy. It's all about your lineage/connection to Rhun himself, seeing as he has the power of the Gods and everything. There's a singular ruler who delegates, for sure; there's primarily one large, central population with smaller outlying areas. Most of Tol Rhun is condensed into one singular spot, surrounding a nice big tower (because of course, as you do when you have the power of the Gods). There are lots of different Houses in the big city, and outlying villages and towns and stuff, and disputing claims, and relation stuff that all boils down to "I AM THE CLOSER DESCENDANT OF RHUN, RESPECT ME, ARGH!" Everyone wants to be on top, obviously. There's lots of in-fighting and backstabbing and stuff.
Q: As a people, I know there has been a comparison to the Malfoys, which I saw in a note that isn't really the case. If we were to do a stereotype, what would you call the average Rhuidim? A: The Malfoys would be a decent base actually. They've got this mixture of a "chosen ones" complex as well as outcast complex because of their failed rebellion. "We're on our own and we're also better than everyone else" (though, these are generalisations and stereotypes). That's reflected in their culture in general, in how they hold themselves, even: always looking down. They like to dress fancy. Rias imagines them having thick and heavy clothing with high collars. Theirs is not necessarily colourful apparel, but it looks big.
Q: As far as iconography, I read that scarabs represent the rising up of the people. Are there any other icons or symbols that are powerful to the Rhuidim? A: Maybe, yeah. He would have to think about it.
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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Teri
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Viali

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Viali



- Ivial religion - there is debate in Ivial on the subject of religion (Is Serafina an immortal, an aengel, an aspect of power? different people will hold different beliefs)
Q At what point does a netherific spooky spot go from merely spooky to nether well? Would a suitably powerful sorcerer (or rather a full "murder of crows" as I'm sure you'd have to be of Crowhaven proportions to manage this by yourself) have to do a ritual to take a mere spooky spot to full nether well or can nether wells occur uh... "naturally" in the wild? A: So far is seems like are spots that are already spots that way and not something people can create. Their are rumors or tales of spots like that. Couldn’t figure out why spots like that are here. Prevailing theory is that that for reasons. Raffaela might be tainted or might be a nether well. Are there lingering netherim there? It is a scary place and yes. Iviali is mostly nice and kept but then you got this pocket of area that is awful and tainted. He imagine there is a dedicated group to contain the area. It is a spooky place and it can be bad but not like places in the lost lands. They have it pretty well contained. Not eliminated but contained. Has a lot of scary stories, do your duty or be stationed there.
Q: Are all Liberi Viali? A: (No, but as a group, maybe.) Do they view all Liberi as Liberi? Has to be revealed IC. This is a reminder that the Liberi do not want to be your friend.
Q: Are Octum spirits world wide? A: Octum spirits are not world wide. Only the lost lands tend to get events like that. Theory is that it happens everywhere, but lost lands is the only place you see it with a tangible effect because there are intense concentrations of Nether. Scary time to Raffaella in Ivial where Rhun's rebellion reached its apex and a lot of nether was tossed around, where you would see actual tangible things like Octum spirits.
Q: Are the provinces of Ivial like Corodeangelo, the capital Luccere, etc. still accurate as listed on the Ivial page of the Clok wiki? A: Yes.
Q: Do border disputes still happen between major territories despite the lack of warfare going on between a lot of them? A: It's safe to assume that in places like, for example, the border of Tol-Rhun and Ivial that disputes happen. They can claim non-responsibility without starting warfare. There are little probes, tiny conflicts, tiny disputes. But nothing major by any means.
Q: Do we have moral authorities for any of the cultures? A: People are probably most familiar with the Viali positions. Rias doesn't want to use word cleric, but they've got people in specific positions speaking on behalf of the Immortals maybe. Ideas of priests/clerics can lead to certain misinterpretations; he wants it to be clear that none of this is Christianity. The Huecans have people who speak for Toteo, or aspects of Toteo.
Q: Eugor says, "Out of all the prime immortals who have wiki pages, it seems like Iarel's is written as if they were actually seen by people. Were there specific occasions when she has appeared to the masses in Ivial? Not asking for specifics unless you have something ready." A: Rias says, "You can blame all the aspiring Dominionites. I'm trying to finish up Mistral Lake before diving into anything else that isn't a quick job." A: Rias says, "Iarel has a very close relationship with the Constantians where there are records of her appearing among the people via an avatar, and some rare especially-worthy Constantia individuals are said to have actually been in her true presence. The Viali generally consider themselves "after that time" when Iarel had become more distant, though you're of course always going to hear those claims of some people saying they were visited by her." Eugor asks, "An avatar, is that where the imagery comes from?" Eugor says, "I imagine that to be the case anyway Rias says, "Most likely. The true presence of a Prime Immortal is generally considered to be too much for mortals to survive experiencing." Eugor exclaims, "You imply there are false immortals!" Rias says, "Some Immortals are tricky, some mortals are tricky."
Q: In Ivial, it's known Serafina doesn't want to be worshipped. How does this translate to individuals who've had her influence them? Is it acceptable to worship her anyways? A: It's another thing that people in Ivial debate about. When it comes to Serafina, there are some who say thanks for her guidance but opt not to worship her, but there are also others who say she's given them all these things, she's their savior, etc who do blow it into a full worship situation. If you bring these things up, that she's humble and doesn't want to worship her, they view it as a mistranslation or that because she's humble, of course she doesn't want to be worshipped but she should be anyways.
Q: In Viali culture is there a high aengel/cerubim from their pantheon? A: They've got a whole hierarchy of beings, some of the words are scattered around the Immortals pages. It's one of the things he'd love to make a little document around sometime. It's believed that these Immortals have various agents and servants. He doesn't want Viali culture to be the dominant thing, or OOC christian elements dominating how we think about immortals, eg. having tiers of angels, arch-angels. He wouldn't want to lean too heavily on real-world religion. Rias loves real-world religious lore stuff, but wants to keep it separate and to make sure COGG stuff is COGG specific. He also doesn't want to provoke IRL.
Q: Is the term ser specifically Viali? A: It generally seems to fall in line with that, but it's maybe not exclusive.
Q: Is there a courtroom, or makeshift courtroom, in Shadgard? Are criminals brought to trial, or is the Sheriff the last word? (edited) A: There is a court that keeps it to major instances of things. Might not be fair but it is a frontier monster area post apoc location. If you were in ivial you might get something, but Shadgard it is what the sheriff thinks and what are they on duty at the moment. Lore wise mistveil and shadgard aren't fair or right and are imperfect things in a imperfect fantasy world.
Q: Is there any obvious class discrepancy in Ivial, the way there have been in most monarchies? A: This is a big source of debate and controversy in Ivial. Right now, a commoner can't rise into nobility; you'd have to be given that by the nobility somehow, like an Earl or Duke making you a Knight (ladies and men can both become knights, there are no gender restrictions). Clearly, the nobles have set themselves up to be in their high towers, above people, and this pisses off a lot of people because "Why did we leave Constantia if this is how it's going to be?!" and they've just fallen back into what their ancestors fled from. Depending on which county/duchy you're in, the local Nobility can treat things differently; for instance, the Count of Sudarida once got in trouble with the King because he kept naming Knights and Barons because he was just a really nice person who wants to fight this hierarchy discrepancy. In Luccere, the current King is loved by the nobility and not loved by the lower classes, because he's very much a "Woo, nobles!" and then smooshes dirt in the faces of the lower classes who are treated like scum.
Q: Is Vandin's thing assisting immortals? A: Part of his thing is organisation, he helps other immortals play well together. With the Fasa and Viali lore, they wouldn't use the term 'leader', or 'king' of the Immortals, but he's the one that gets people together if there's something that needs to be done. Less control freak (though your character can interpret it as that!) more... he's the one that helps mobilise. He's the coordinator/project manager/producer.
Q: Marcuson asks (muffled by a mask), "Last question, and tangentially related: not including druidry, do the Viali have any specific beliefs regarding the natural world or notable outlooks on nature?" A: Rias says, "Viali practitioners of druidry aren't completely unheard of, but I'd say it's pretty uncommon. More common up near the Fasa border of course, where the cultures have more of a mix." Rias says, "I think even most Viali who would be interested in druidic stuff would prefer to defer to a Fasa, feeling it's not the Viali's place to be practicing this particular thing that's quite special and sacred to the Fasa. In all their Viali propriety, they'd not want to give the impression they're trying to take it for themselves or claim understanding of this thing that's culturally of little important to them while being culturally extremely important to their neighbors and allies. But again: not completely unheard of for a Viali to try and take up druidry themselves. Just not very likely." Rias says, "I think the Viali mostly consider matters of "nature" and the natural world to be important and worth considering when they make their own decisions on what they do and how they act, but also kind of beyond their greater understanding." Rias says, "They have their own scholars who study as best they can of course, but they mostly don't really deep dive into it. It's important to understand it enough to not screw something up. Again, making generalizations here." Rias says, "They have their own scholars who study as best they can of course, but they mostly don't really deep dive into it. It's important to understand it enough to not screw something up. Again, making generalizations here." Rias says, "Between their Fasa neighbors and their Kahldean neighbors, the Viali are content to outsource a lot of that kind of scholarly research and knowledge." Rias says, "They'll focus on stuff like art, culture, ethics, and the like."
Q: Marcuson asks (muffled by a mask), "Sorry, two more questions, and then I'll be done. Next question:What are the general Viali views of druidry?" A: Rias says, "The Viali have a mixed opinion on druidry. They think it can be very creepy and scary (they're right), but it's also practiced by their good friends and neighbors the Fasa. The Duke of Boschverddi is said to have asked Fasa druids to help him care for his lands and ensure they stay green and growing. But others do get caught up in the spooky side, and may even put it somewhere near sorcery in its scariness and ability to "corrupt". It's very much a regional thing, though most Viali are at least accepting of druidry because of their friendship with and trust in their Fasa buddies."
Q: More literary hype! There's a library book called 'Welcomer's Treaty: On Tensions Between Viali and Fasa' which throws up all sorts of questions for me. I imagine it refers to historical border disputes with Viali landowners mentioned in the wiki. Was Ivial considered Fasa territory prior to the arrival of the Viali refugees? Do the Fasa have reserves or sites of sacred/cultural significance within Ivial? May they roam freely as a condition of the Treaty, or what were the terms? A: When they started out, the Fasa were like "OK, this is the land.", not necessarily their land, just the land. No one owns the land. When the Viali showed up, they had a different view on the land; the Fasa were nice (thankfully) and the Viali weren't conquerors hoarding gold, spreading disease, etc (thankfully), so they had a good relationship and the Fasa were willing to help them settle and let them exist there. They weren't necessarily "Oh hey, this is your land forever." because to them, the land is just the land. They weren't used to people coming in, setting up, and building walls; they're nomadic, so they move around as they need to generally. There have been tensions because of how the Viali think compared to how the Fasa think, landowners versus laissez-faire Love The Gaea; the Viali wanted more land and the Fasa eventually were like "Hey, dude, stop." and they had minor wars over it. Thankfully, they worked things out. The Fasa are allowed into Viali land, unrestricted, and there probably are sites in Ivial, and there are enclaves of Fasa who live in Ivial, probably around important sites. The King generally says "Don't be jerks to the Fasa.", but individual Dukes and Counts might view it differently.
Q: Re: Corodeangelo. What’s so distinct about their local culture that makes the rest of Ivial think they’re “barbaric”? Is there anything specific about their personalities that evokes this impression? Or is it more a result of their attempt at a rebellion from the crown in their history that people don’t like? I’ve always pictured them as equally dramatic and stuffed up in their own way, but in a more direct way than there fellow Viali. Is this an accurate interpretation? A: They've got the same tendency to be dramatic. They do try to deliberately differentiate themselves from the typical viali culture. Part of the problem, they feel, is the Viali do a lot of emulating Constantia, which they were fleeing from. The peopel of Corodeangelo, they're like, "We all fled from these problems and you guys just started it back up again yourselves." They tend to be more rustic (he apologises for overusing the word). Not as much into all the fantsy pantsy artsy stuff, they definitely shy away from it more, but that's not to say they don't do it at all. They deliberately do not want to be a part of this rehash of the problems that they ran away from, hence more rustic and woodsy. It's not a huge place, but they have at least one huge castle, they like that. But even then ... you see the Viali ones and they're all nice and fancy-looking, resplendent and colourful, with heraldry etc. But in Corodeangelo, it's all kind of dark and dour and grim ... that's how he's always seen it. They're more of a dour people. Not dark dark, but there's kind of a weary attitute toward the situation. Tired of it all. One of the reasons that they're, in addition to everything else, viewed as barbaric, is that they're up in the mountains, so they also dress practically because of that. That's just another visual thing where the other VIali are like, "look at these savages". That's not to say the Corodeangelo people wouldn't wear other things in different circumstances, but it contributes towards their image as rustic/primitive.
Q: Re: Ivial’s ecology. Any kind of super awesome spooky mythical creatures that specifically live within Ivial’s borders? A: Sure there are, but he doesn't want to commit to any at the moment.
Q: Re: Viali spirituality. Do they have any of their own specific interpretations of Vodr, Verungr, or the sea/river sister goddesses? Just curious, considering they have so many unique interpretations on other powers. Have they or the Fasa adopted any spiritual beliefs from one another since the welcomer’s treaty A: Yes, regarding the Viali having their own take on the Immortals, they do. He thinks those pages were written a long time ago before the cultural perspectives were written. It's afe to assume that most of the cultures have their own various interpretations of the immortals. Rias needs to write about the reasons why all these cultures still acknowledge *all* these Immortals, even though they have their own favourites. He imagines the Viali and Fasa have adopted some spiritual links/influences. It's safe to say that yes, they are buddies, have definitely overlapped. Sure they're going to bicker, but also share a lot with eachother, or at least try to. He also imagine they have things some they wish the other culture could understand (differences that are difficult to communicate). Rias needs to look into Fasa spirituality more.
Q: Saladbowl says, "In a past email you mentioned at least one region of ivial not on the wiki: will it be updated with all the "known" ones? I know making a comprehensive list can be writing yourself into a corner though." A: Rias asks, "Shoot. Did I never put the main territories of Ivial on their page? Rias exclaims, "I did not. Shoot. I can add those!" Rias says, "The thing with Ivial is I'll probably put all the "Top Level" duchies/counties, but there's wiggle room for all the smaller territories those are split into. Viali love appointing lesser lords below themeslves to both delegate work and also to make themselves feel more important." Rias says, "Dukes can appoint Counts, Counts can appoint Barons, Barons can appoint landed Knights."
Q: Speaking to Rias, Prism simply inquires, "You mentioned the church of the mother god in Ivial recently in a thread-- regarding the serpent queen. The Viali have recently come around to feeling good about her again-- how does Corodeangelo feel about this? I ask as a resident barbarian." A: Rias says, "They continue to hold some wariness and mistrust, but they still honor and respect her as their creator. They're just more likely in general to remember the issues of the past in Constantia, and what they saw as the Viali stupidly repeating just fleeing it themselves. They hold onto things. They can be kind of grudgey." Rias clarifies, "What they saw as the Viali stupidly repeating even though they had just fled that very same stuff in Constantia." Prism says, "As a follow up question-- As a Vodr worshipper, should I just not like Balastrossa? I feel like I should just not like balastrossa." Rias says, "Balastrossa is pretty uppity, rallying people against the Prime Immortals. Of whom Vodr is/was one of." Prism says, "My thoughts precisely. Thank you for that brief clarification."
Q: View on non-heterosexual pairings in cultures? A: Most cultures don't care, do your own thing. Viali are about bloodline and offspring, though, because of that you have to have kids to continue the bloodline. They're very stuffy, it also depends on where you are in Ivial. The Tol Rhun is also very strong about the bloodline, so it would have an affect. Who are the most homophobic and the least homophobic? There is no scale, but Rilulth thinks the Tol Rhun are the most homophobic. She also pictures the Malfoys being the Tol Rhun. You're gonna marry your cousin and have babies and like it. Purebloods 4 lyfe. This is her entire head cannon. Prejudice, homophobic peoples. If you're not pure, you're scum. Rias probably hates her for tainting the Tol Rhun, but he agreed, so who knows. He hasn't thought of it.
Q: What is policy when making up words in another language. Am I allowed to say that the Italian word for stone is the same in Viali? Similarly, are we allowed to take from what we would assume the real world analogues for homeland languages are? Obviously I won't be writing actual Italian instead of just switching to Viali, but it ties into my next question. A: I don't know if I want people subbing in real-world languages into their Common. Like 'El Gato.' I know they are based on these languages, but I feel it would be jarring to bring real-world languages in.
Q:And, just so I'm not missing anything, what sorts of offerings does Bogvaskr prefer? How about what he dislikes? Any more information that you're willing to share on this? A: That will depend on which aspect you go for. For the hunter- dedicating a hunt, dedicating pieces of the spoils. The viali one is a little complicated. He will have to go through the immortal pages for the basics for worships/adherence 101 but on the other hand is it is fine to come up with stuff and it is obvious you are tying to tie it to their aspect or domain as long as it isn’t off the wall. He is associated with hunting and I leave this piece or burn this piece in honor or recognition. The intent and thought is the most important making it specific to that immortal. It isn’t the physical act but the intent and approach you are taking there, that is what is more important for these rituals and help lead to acknowledgment. Making the physical action is important in making an effort. Don’t worry too much about the nitty gritty but he is going to come up with some ideas. Those ideas are guidelines of not to be examples of being the only one true way, just an example. Viali aspect could be similar instead of animals or beasts you are hunting evil creatures to be destroyed.
Q: Speaking to Rias, Rocode asks (muffled by a skull), "Second, with the introduction of tattoos, will we get a command to temporarily show off something underneath clothing?" A: Rias says, "Yes, I was looking into a way to SHOW one's own tattoo to either a specific person or the whole room a day or so ago." (the changelog for this command <CHANGELOG> (General) It is now possible to show off tattoos. To show a tattoo off to everyone in the room, syntax is show <tattoo>. To show it only to a specific indiviudal, syntax is show <tattoo> to <target>. Tattoos can be shown off this way regardless of whether they are covered by apparel.
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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Teri
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Immortals part 1

Post by Teri »

Immortals



Q: Are Immortals in a position to reject worship? A: it could happen, yeah, think so. Maybe one like Kebyet, an ascendant, would be more prone to spite, fickleness and human-like emotion. Might be more likely to do something like that perhaps.
Q: Are prayers to multiple immortals all right A: Are acknowledged if there are multiple immortals, but likely some want to be the main focus.
Q: Are the Druidic Entities able to be Dark Immortals, or are they just there? A: They're there. A lot of people may interpret Reykvargr as "evil" because of her mission and how the Dunwyr operate, but the Druidic Entities are sort of not aligned to that sort of morality spectrum. Think more Blue-Orange morality than Black-White, though the Smoke-Wolf is talked about in Druidic Circles as having gone off the path to do their own thing, and is Different than spirits such as the Great Bear Spirit.
Q: Are there any Dark Immortals that present as female? A: 3 are presenting as female.
Q: Are there any Immortals/plans for Immortals that originate on other continents? Has anything from these cultures ended up in Arad? A: Nothing big has caught on. They have a different approach to Immortals and pantheons and stuff. Rias needs to flesh those out more too. Safe to say unlike other continents with synergy between Immortals, Nil Bindu (southwest continent) does its own thing. Nil Bindu hate/are terrified the ocean, they do not swim, they do not cross it, ew. EW.
Q: Are there any notable immortals or ascended who would support the sciences, and those who pursue it? A: Vanden is all about knowledge in general, and the first that comes to mind.
Q: Are there any particular traits Nereia worshippers are expected to uphold, as known by the commonfolk? A: Just kind of the stuff people can infer on their own; being just generally comfortable in and around the sea and stuff like that. He doesn't think there's any particular virtue that people go for other than that Nereia is seen as one of the more ... she seems to have more concern with mortals and individual mortals' safety. Saving them from shipwrecks, calming seas. She's not too obsessed with immortal affairs to forget the everyday problems of mortals. An awareness of mortal affairs and general kindness is perhaps something to aim for, for her followers.
Q: Are there any records of what other Prime Immortals, besides Vodr, were lost? A: No comment for now. This is digging deep. Eventually, there will be more about the term Prime.
Q: Are you still planning your new "evil" immortal? Or has that been axed? A: Yes, he's planning it still! One of them has been very slightly, subtly semi-introduced into the game, and he has a couple more in the wheelworks!
Q: Bonehead asks, "So, just from.tbe brief blurb I have read regarding Hesutu, he doesn't seem, as described on the wiki, a bad immortal. I've heard he is though. Why would some people consider him an evil entity?" A: Rias says, "It should be noted that pages about the six new Immortals were written by a player, not staff. They're generally quite good, but don't necessarily have all the information. Hesutu has a bad reputation for his association with diseases, decay, and death, and having more of an interest in endings than beginnings. Endings are often resisted, and so Hesutu finds it necessary to weigh in more often on that side of things." Rias says, "Addendum: The articles were written by a player based on information provided by myself on the BBS. The weren't just made up."
Q: Can you be just a Harbinger of all the Dark Lords, or do you need a specific patron? A: No, you can definitely be a Harbinger who's down with the Dark Lords total instead of just specific ones. They're trying to get more acknowledgment and representation, which will empower those immortals and in turn empower their Harbingers.
Q: Do Immortals have places in their domains where they hang out? like Nereia in the middle of the sea somewhere? or Vandin high in the sky somewhere? A: It's generally assumed that they all have at least one place that they consider their home. As well as meeting places, places they would all gather.... those are not necessarily accessible to mortals. They're going to be places that mortals might claim to be places like that, weird sites --- "this looks like a place where the Immortals got together!" --- but we don't have details on where these places are exactly. There's a natural tendency for us mere mortals to say that when god-like beings get together, it's somewhere up in the sky. So you might see people saying that too.
Q: Does Crowhaven have a favored immortal? Presumably he had one before becoming immortal himself, and possibly afterward?A: Have to find his journal to find out.
Q: Does Nereia get mad if you eat fish? Or is it good to eat them? Would people hold feasts for Nereia in particular and if so what kind of food might they serve? A: No, seafood is fine. It's gonna be one of those things, just be respectful of the domain of the sea. Don't try to go out and overfish one area, but just because Nereia's domain is the sea doesn't mean you can't eat fish. Be mindful, and probably give some kind of acknowledgement or thanks, if you wanted to go out of your way to make it a nereia character. The intent is important. Involve the domain of the Immortal in question, and it will probably make an impact. No need to worry about drinking alcohol at feasts or whatever, Nereia's adherents are sailors!
Q: Eagalon says, "And the final point, a question is related to lore, sorry if i sound stupid, but could you tell me if there is an immortal that is like aranas but on the extreme otherside? it probably sounds stupid but i am kind of confused because my current knowledge is pretty much lacking in that regard. i should probably make a bbs account as well but that's here nor there. uh, sorry for the rambling." A: Rias asks, "Hmm, can you clarify? What kind of opposite qualities are you looking for?" Eagalon asks, "Like mmhmm, if i could mention the other game, the way lapis believed in?" Rias asks, "Like the whole resist and purge corruption bit?" Eagalon says, "Indeed." Eagalon asks, "Or in better words antithesis of aranas?" Speaking to Eagalon, Rias says, "I don't necessarily have exact opposites for all the Immortals, but we've got Aphraen who's safety and sanctity of dreams vs Aranas terror and taking advantage of vulnerable mortals in nightmares, Aphraen protecting mankind from monsters like Aranas itself." Rias says, "Might be something to think more about, hmmm."
Q: For the evil-immortals association, which immortals would you consider properly “evil?” Aranas, the Blood God, and Malfant seem easy choices, but what of Reykvargr, or Verungnr, who is sometimes invoked as punishment against evil despite being terrifying in and of itself? A: Verungnr is an interesting case; they are definitely a spooky, scary entity but also definitely enjoy eating "evil" things. As far as the Harbingers go: Verungnr could be up there. Reykvargr is in an exclusive club with the Dunwyr, so not for the Harbingers.
Q: Going by the wiki for prayer, are there any particular invocation rites for any of the Immortals? A: That's one of those things where Rias is sure there are, but coming up with them takes a lot of time. Probably safe to say you can create your own!
Q: Has Owleyes or her Sisterhood invented ice cream, yet? If not, what is even the point of ice magic and immortality? (Does she still have ice magic?) A: Maybe they invented it and they're just keeping it to themselves because it's their divine right. (Yes she still has ice magic.)
Q: Heuctn sacrifice, does that follow under occult things or fall under its own weird thing and not like druid or occult A: It is their own religious thing. Wants to write up incredible things from their sacrifices. It isn't an immediate thing. It isn't speed miracle. There is a process to it, they hope the thing is fast, but it isn't instant Doesn't just shift reality. It has a process and a path with work to be done between a to b Usually performed by priests and they confer and decided is it worth sacrificing for. It is a group effort or decision. Sometimes a cause is deemed worthy by the spirits but that is more miraculous thing. Generally, need right place, right time, right people. There is build up, and location. A sacrifice in the temples than emergency location. It would depend on the purpose that is appropriate and attuned and monitored by the spirits or immortals you are trying to get in touch with. Similar to worship guidelines.
Q: How kosher is it to run around wearing the faction tabards. A: That was actually a thing that came up when that shop was made. There shouldn't be a Stormholdt one in there, a tabard that could be acquired by different means. He doesn't know that Stormholdt would love someone walking around wearing their emblem when they don't have anything to do with it. Someone from Stormholdt's like, 'Oh, i don't recognise you'. But for the other ones, they wouldn't realy care as much; they'd take that more as kind of like advertisement: "Oh hey you like the library", it's like a souvenir. The Stormholdt one is probably the only one where he wasn't sure. If you're wearing a Dominion tabard, it's like "Hey, I support the Dominion', rather than i'm an official Dominion spokesperson. For the Harbinger ones: you don't have to be a Harbinger to wear the symbols of a particular Immortal. If you're specifically a Harbinger, they'll have their own identification symbols or whatever, beyond this general symbol everyone has access too.
Q: I believe you mentioned last time that a deity's 'death' or continued existence is tied to worship and belief; how does Seraphina's dislike of worship tie into this? Is she committing Immortal-suicide? Or am I misremembering. A: People often refer to Serafina as a 'lesser Immortal', and one of the theories is that she's weak BECAUSE she refuses worship. That said, it's not only about worship; it's also about acknowledgment. This is the same for all Immortals, Dark or otherwise; in the case of Dark Immortals, fear (and others) is a powerful acknowledgment, hence their power. Primal Entities were around before even humanity (supposedly), so they're simply eternal forces that are always there, taking new forms and splitting off into other versions and therefore do not require worship, though most people would guess that worship and stuff will bolster their power.
Q: I recall it being said at one point that "serious practitioners"/most scholars typically don't use the term magic to describe supernatural happenings, and instead generally refer to things as Arcane or Occult instead. This may have been a holdover in my brain from Somnium, but is this still generally the case? A: Yes it is! When people talk about "magic", they either think of stage magic or non-serious whimsical fantasy fairy intentionally random stuff. If you're serious about it, you'd use the terms occult or arcane. Q: If so, is this the case for anything else? Ex: Immortals are mostly called Immortals on the wiki, but there are a couple of references to Immortals as gods, so is it safe to assume that referring to Immortals as 'gods' is more of a layperson's thing? A: Yeah, probably. Q: Follow-up to that question: What about the term "spell"? I was calling them "occult operations" on my Arcanist, and my ranger usually refers to druidic abilities as "rites", but is there a more scholastic/academic appropriate term for supernatural abilities that most folks would consider "magic" or a "spell" A: He hadn't really thought about it as much. Maybe a "casting" or "occult ritual"? "Spell" would generally be considered hokey or something, though it obviously varies between characters, and the elitists can feel elite when people use "juvenile terminology".
Q: If someone was just standing around preaching about Yru in her Yruiness, would most people just be like, "Ah yeah this is normal," or would they be dishing out some serious side-eye? A: Depends on how they go about it. If they are saying embrace undeath the dominion might go that is kind of weird. If it seems particular word might get some side eye, but they are really going for equal rep of immortals. They might be giving a little more to the harbingers ones that are less accepted or repped to get them a foothold to get on the same level with reluctance of people again. Generally speaking, they are pretty open about that kind of stuff. Basically, those recently added.
Q: If Vodr was the father, is it known who is the mother of Nereia? A: There aren't really any mentions of Nereia's mother, so a lot of people assume it's either lost information or it's a case of the Immortals not working that way (not needing both a mother and a father). That's all speculation, of course.
Q: If you worship a Primal Spirit (i.e. praying to it), is that the right thing to do? How do we bring them into existence? Can you influence their power the way we influence Immortals? A: The Primal Spirits don't necessarily need that, but it does help empower them, either through specific prayer or dedicatory acts. Anything in the worship document can be applied to Primals as well, though they were there before Mankind (and possibly Immortals?).
Q: Immortal question: Other Game had Gods that were not omniscent, and had corporeal forms. Is that the case here? A:It depends on which immortal. Generally speaking, yes.Rias doesn't think any immortal claims omniscence.Closest thing: Constantians are obsessed with Iarel, and she's their Big Head Honcho God. They also believe in other Gods. They just really stan Iarel.No immortals have all the powah. That would be boring.
Q: Immortal question: Shethsut was kindly towards people, how can you be kindly vs. a sacrifice god? A: See Old Testament. Also Huec sacrifice people. "Hi, become a great thing beyond death, thanks."
Q: Is Iarel a Prime Immortal? A: Yes. She's definitely at the top of the Cosmic Power Level Scale, hanging out with Vodr. The general consensus outside of Bias Zones like Constantia is that Vodr is more powerful, but Iarel is definitely up there.
Q: Is Teonanacatl a primal spirit or an Immortal? A: This is the real question! DEBATE! They don't have a gender/human form.
Q: Is there any myth or legend as to why Iarel favors serpents? A: Yes, there is. There's one that'll be coming to light more as another immortal gets more into the spotlight here, within the next week or so. But for the time being, he's going to refrain from saying it as info's going up soon.
Q: Is Verungnr considered a dark god? From the way it's described on the help file, Verungnr looks like some sort of god of justice, albeit with a darker bend. However, I did read somewhere on this discord that Verungnr might be one of the gods featured on the harbinger pantheon. If so, how do they fit into that system? Iirc they only really punished the most evil of people, and that seems like something that would come into conflict with a god like Aranas. I guess most of my confusion comes from the fact most fantasy works portray justice gods or those who punish sinners as on the good side. A: Verungnr is an interesting case. it's less a god of justice and more kind of ... he's the monster that you feed other monsters to. it's not like he's out there trying to fight for the cause of justice in the world. He just seems to have a particular taste for the nastier folks, there's something about them or their souls that just tastes delicious. *chef's kiss* Regarding harbingers, he doesn't know that it's going to work having Verungnr as part of their line-up. A lot of these folks are going to be the people that Verungnr is going to want to eat. It probably wouldn't work for a character to be a Harbinger solely on the merits of being a Verungnr adherent, it would have to be something beyond that. Otherwise, they're just waiting for the other harbingers to step over the line so they can destroy them. C: There's definitely a will behind Verungnr's actions, though it is going to depend on who you ask. Verungnr seeks out particular types of people and is singling them out, he's not necessarily just a mindless hungry beast. Some people think it is just some means for the world to keep evil under control, with adherents saying that is what we see as Verungnr. It's definitely going to be considered the most alien of these types of Immortals, in that you can try and guess as to what its motives might be or what it's trying to do, but it really seems to be this alien entity that we can't really understand. We can make guesses and inferences, but can't really explain why. It's not something that you want to anthropomorphise. Though it's alien, you've still got the people who choose to honour it and serve it nonetheless; there's some force that's urging adherents to do things. It's definitely not considered a force specifically or deliberately for good. Because of its behaviour, people see it as some manifestation of justice against people doing horrible deeds, A cosmic manifestation. Maybe it's a creature that's controlled/created by the Immortals for this purpose? People don't know. There's been a recognisable behavioral pattern for aeons, nevertheless.
Q: Kenny asks, "Ah I see. do we get perks for worshiping immortals?" A: Rias says, "I've not wanted to turn it into a mechanical thing, because then we end up with Immortals being "worshipped" just to fill out a particular type of build or something. I prefer it to be done for RP, and particular dedication may eventually result in some kind of blessing or boon that has mechanical effects, but what that might be isn't known or requestable by the player character." Rias says, "Some Immortals may be more willing than others to tempt people over with promises of power. It's still going to be a rarer thing though, rather than just a mechanical choice someone makes to get certain abilities."
Q: Kenny asks, "Cool. I was also wondering, besides powder and flint pistals, will the tech advance in the future, from powder to something else?" A: Rias says, "Exceptions might be the Harbingers society or the Anti-Nethrim group which are backed by Immortals and may give out a couple more standardized boons, but that's more the Immortals granting those abilities to their organizations than to individuals, and doesn't necessarily translate to a particular relationship between the PC and the Immortal. Hopefully such a situation would grow into that, though." Rias says, "We've got both flintlock guns and pneumatic guns. I hadn't planned on anything further."
Q: Kenny asks, "I'm wondering, will the gods have temples, and can we worship more then one?" A: Rias says, "The goal is to have some kind of temple, shrine, or whatnot every major Immortal. It's certainly possible to worship more than one, though singular dedication is more likely to be noticed and responded to."
Q: Marcuson asks, "My other question is regarding the Harbingers. It sounds like they'll be more than just warriors -- they'll be expected to 'spread influence'. What kind of things will that include? Will they be expected to preach?"A: Rias says, "They don't necessarily need to preach as in give sermons in town square or whatever, but they do need to openly acknowledge and try to spread acknowledgment of their patrons. Harbingers are not for the secret double agent hidden dark power worshippers. Their part of the bargain for receiving boons from their patrons is spreading the knowledge and influence of said patrons." Rias says, "So speak their names often, and talk about what those Immortals do and should be respected for. Doesn't need to be formal preaching, but it Harbingers should be bringing up their patrons often - preferably in a way that will garner respectful acknowledgment. Just saying their name on ESP over and over is more spreading mild annoyance than respectful acknowledgment. And acknowledgment does not require agreement or throwing in with them, just to clarify. Someone can be staunchly against Aranas while also respect its presenece, influence, and power."
Q: Most immortals have symbols attached to them, such as Iarel's serpant wrapped staff. Does Nereia have one or more of these? Any particular things that could easily identify you as a Nereia worshipper A: Not sure yet really.
Q: Prism says, "And since I mentioned it-- we know Vodr has daughters. Did they have a mom? Or was it some crazy greater immortal sublimation of being stuff where he was like "I'm lonely" *splits self into thirds* "And now I have daughters. I love you, sweethearts." Feel free to answer or not answer this as you like. I know it's ridiculous." A: Rias says, "It's weird when Verungnr -isn't- the weird question." Rias says, "No, it's a good question, and I'm sure it comes up a lot in theological musings and whatnot. I've written and deleted a bunch of answers already so I'm going to rain check this one until I decide just how I want to answer it. It's another one of those "what angle do I want to present to the playerbase with" things. Sorry! I'm writing it down to include it when I update the Vodr/Nereia/Naia documents."
Q: Prism says, "Does Verungnr have any noteworthy nemesis or rival figures in the immortal sphere? Or do the immortals mostly view him is that weirdo that should be generally kept at tentacle's length? (Spare Vodr's daughters. I do know Verungnr gets sleepytime lullaby songs to chill him out sometimes.)." A: Rias says, "Aside Nereia, the Immortals all keep well away from Verungnr. Maybe the Abyssal Horror had a nemesis at one point, but ate them and the world forgot. Yum. But generally speaking Verungnr is considered more a "fact of life" for the Immortals that they can't reason with or defeat. It's out there, and they steer clear of it as much as they can, and when they can't, they try to figure out how to not get eaten. Defeating or destroying it doesn't ever seem to be on the table."
Q: So it's safe to assume that, outside of the festival, IC, whatnot, an NPC might realistically actually reasonably obtain a tabard whenever. Perhaps if they had it commissioned, or they grabbed one off the shelf? Like, not player accessible, but "in lore"? A: Oh yeah. It's not like these are coming out of exclusive shops or workshops within these places. For instance, if I said 'Hey I've got a tailor merchant that's turned up and theyre doing alterations', if you wanted a tabard altered and an Immortal's symbol on it, that's fine. Unless it's so official a symbol that they feel they don't have the right.
Q: Society question for Harbingers! While I understand societies are not at the forefront of your thought, what is the end result in a perfect world for Harbingers? Would a harbinger worship only 1 dark god or all the dark gods? A: Could go both ways but more specific. Multiples of for the cause of the harbingers and not to the exclusions of the others. The harbingers when it comes to all the immortals involved in it aren't buddies but they are realizing they could all fight alone and have no chance or we all understand the problem and cooperate if they work together and make it a bigger effort. Adherents understand as a collective they will have less problems working together.
Q: The nether and immortal questions had me wonder. What is the Huec view of sorcery? I played one at one point that believed it was a broken or dead aspect of Toteo left scattered over the world, but is there an official place for it in their cosmology? A: That's a good question! He hasn't really put a solid thing for it, so he has to think about it; it's definitely something they acknowledge. Some of them use it and stuff.
Q: The Undying still may eventually die (lorewise). Do you have the reason why people become undying? A: "Yes." Is it possible for mortals to learn this magic? "It's not science. When it comes to Undying, it's not like someone figured out how to become Undying. It's more like hey, I died, and yet I'm alive again, what's going on." But you have the lore reason and someone in-game could, with enough research, determine the reason? "Sure. Maybe not with enough research. I'm not saying no one can find clues and come up to theories, but no one will ever find out oh, you've found the secrets to being undying. It's a cosmic theory. It's like the Immortals; will you discover what they are, if they're real, etc., it's not meant to be something that people know factually."
Q: There are several immortals who have some kind of servant: naeads, sincubi, aengels, etc. Forgive my spelling. Are these beings mythical or something encountered or (I suspect) something people claim to have encountered but without any real solid evidence, much like most Immortals themselves? Are they physical or incorporeal? If they are actually encountered, have they confirmed their relation to the Immortals (perhaps lying for their own benefit) or is this just assumptions made by humans? Like is there some nest of fish-people somewhere just chillin' like wyrms or bears do and people were like 'Yeah, those clearly work for Nereia'? A: It's more folklore. There are going to be plenty of people saying I saw an aengel or whatever, but they're definitely more the realm of folklore. People might see a sea creature and think "Is that..." but it's not going to be a hundred percent a Naiad. There's no certain way to identify them exactly.
Q: There is a god of knowledge and truth--Vandin, and another of secrets and forbidden knowledge--Malfant. Is there any kind of association, conflict, rivalry, or the like between these? What would sway someone to look to Malfant over Vandin when it comes to knowledge? Are there any interesting details about either of these immortals you would be open to sharing? A: They do seem somewhat similar, right? Malfant is definitely the guy you're going to go to for discovering stuff you aren't supposed to, Vandin is more a scribe/record keeper than specifically a Knowledge Dispenser, though he does occasionally get associated with that also. As far as rivalry, sometimes; Vandin's trying to record all the information, and some aren't meant to be shared, and Malfant has no qualms doing this. He doesn't know that they have a whole lot of relationships with each other, despite sharing a similar sphere/role. They don't have any specific rivalry overall, though their followers might. Q: Follow-up kinda? Iarel also gives knowledge in exchange for tasks and favors. Does she relate to the other two in any way? Overlap? A: Not really. All of the Immortals have their own specialties and knowledge sets that they can hand out, it doesn't mean that they're associated with being sought out for general knowledge; they all have plenty of good knowledge. Iarel has a close relationship with humankind (at least, in the past; it's complicated right now).
Q: Vodr > many think he's dead in the setting. How does this translate? Were his priests unable to do miracles? Were there stories? What makes people think he's dead? A: There's stories about Vodr's sacrifice, getting destroyed/diminished by it. Mainly people believe he's 'dead' (as dead as an Immortal can be) due to stories. Also because people might not be able to do things they used to. Vodr's super old, though, no one commonly would remember any of this except the stories. Knowledge is power, y'all. Vodr is less likely to respond to people seeking power from Immortals.
Q: What about a less savory immortal like, say, Yru? A: They deserve their recognition as any other.
Q: What are cultures as a whole's interpretations of Nereia? Do methods of worship vary between culture? A: Yeah, Rias just needs to update some of the articles. Will get Vodr and Vandin their pages first. Then there's a whole slew of new immortals to introduce.
Q: What cog does praying and worshipping turn in terms of the machinery of the game world as a whole? A: The biggest part of that is getting involved in the world, and exploring aspects of that character. Also, it allows interaction with events that are being driven by immortals and the mouthpieces of those immortals. It's not necessarily going to fit into the economy as such, but it's still moving things along.
Q: What happens to souls devoured by the various immortals that eat them? (Aranas, and Undm's Toteo splinter) A: Generally assumed they are gone and destroyed. Aranas night sky being Aranas web to be eaten later. The night sky could be purgatory (My takeaway from it)
Q: What is Vandin's relationship to things like Resen, Nether, Sorcery, Arcana etc? Would he be indifferent to them as yet something else to chronicle, document, and study or would he take active stances one way or the other with them? A: Vandin doesn't really like the nether that much. The other stuff because these Immortals are more human-facing, sympathetic beings, they're not going to love the Resen because it's doing horrible things to humanity. But Vandin isn't leading a crusade against the Resen; he's more of a bookworm immortal than a soldier. Happy to support humanity. Wants to take information on all this; not necessarily just destroy it all, but perhaps some room for figuring out/observing threats and how to combat them better.
Q: What occult does Destiny Owleyes use? It just says 'enchantress' on the wiki. A: That's a good question. She has the reputation for cold and ice, so cryomancy (as it was referenced in the other game). Enchantress is used because she's bafflingly manipulative and appears to have become an Immortal. Some people might think she has access to Bard Words, if they know about those. She's ultimately an unknown.
Q: What would one learn from reading 'Sources of Arcane Power'? A: It would be similar to Monsters Beyond the Diagrams. It's theories about and documentation on experience with where power is coming from. There'd be theories about the monsters beyond the diagrams, stuff about leylines, about drawing power from immortals, from being granted boons from immortals, drawing from natural sources like the leylines, etc.
Q: What's the general consensus on the period of time Jonathon Crowhaven was considered most active? Do we know any legends of when he was still mortal, and if that was pre-Aetgardian, during the Aetgardian Kingdom, or post-plague? Do any particular countries of Arad lay (or have lain) claim to being his home/land of origin? A: As far he contemporary Aetgardian recent lore and history mentions him. there is a lot of legends that say that he is an avatar or aspect of a different immortal that has power. Some associate with Eru. Some think the Trickster is meddling in things doing something for some reason. People often say it is the trickster doing crazy things if there are no details. More common language name. He is a contemporary immortal. Late Aetgard pre-fall is when he is most mentioned most recorded or noted activity.
Q: What's the limit [to] just mak[ing] these things up. A: It's probably one of these things you have a lot more freedom with, to a degree. With all the immortals, people can come up with their own ways of worship and that's fine. He would love to come up with more common things, but go ahead if you don't know what's generally done. You don't have to feel bad coming up with your own stuff. The only thing to avoid there is that, don't turn around and claim that this was a thing that everyone did, or in the area I came from everyone did this thing. If you are doing something with intent, and it has an obvious link to an immortal and their sphere/domain, then you're on the right track. But if you're trying to sacrifice a goat to Nereia, she probably doesn't care, why would you do that? You could try and start your own trends, e.g. "I'm doing this special dedicatory thing to Nereia, come on down", that kind of thing.
Q: Where are you up to with the new Immortals? A: Rias hates the names that he has for them right now, he could alwas release them with their descriptive epithets. (Comment from Rilulth: You could always ask us GMs for name inspirations ;))
Q: Which gods tie closely with Nether? That's a topic that I'm unsure about because sometimes it's talked about as immortals being eldritch and to me, eldritch is not Nether but I could be wrong. A: When Rias uses the term (used loosely), eldritch means "otherworldly and difficult for humans to understand", which might be used for Aranas and the Primal Entities, but it wouldn't be used for things like Iarel and Vandin, etc. Those Immortals are a lot more human-understandable. As for gods who tie closely to Nether, Aranas and Malfant are associated specifically with nether, but that doesn't mean they aren't necessarily 100% tied to Nether. People just say that. There are more! They're coming out soon(TM). (There's one he didn't originally plan on that he's going to do, though.) Not all dark immortals are nether-related.
Q: Who or what might people appeal to in order to ward off the Canim affliction? A: The whole thing with it is they're going feral, beastlike. A lot of people would turn to druidic primal stuff or Immortals that have an association with the wild. Vandin might be the one you'd pray to/go to if you needed information. He's going to have to think about which tropes he loves and which ones he wants to defy. Rias didn't want there to be an immortal for everything, an answer to everything. That's not what rias was going for here; not the kind of world this is. There isn't an Immortal for literally every concept; they're definitely a limited kind of group.
Q: Zombilicious asks, "How does Undm feel about the Undying?" A: Rias says, "How Undm sees things is going to depend on who you ask. Is this a blessing/mercy from Undm? Is this an annoyance for Undm to have to try and deal with? Is this by Undm's design, is it a flaw in the design, is it the result of some monkey-wrenching? So I guess the answer is that the jury is out on that among Undm followers, and like all Immortals these days, Undm is bad about replying to emails."
Q:Prism says, "Anywhoozles, I have a few verungnr questions for us today." Prism says, "So, we know that Verungnr is a spooky eldrich immortal that's sort of out there on the fringes. It's alien. We don't necesarily understand what it's all about-- so we, we being humans, project what we think it's about onto it, so far as I understand the lore." Prism asks, "Given that, My question is this. Would it be fair to say that Verungnr is almost a primal sort of immortal force? As in-- In it's alien-ness, would you say it is more immortal in the vein of, say, Vodr or Vanden, or more closely attributable to a primal entity such as the great spirit of the deep? Are there any people out there in the world that have opinions on that? Or is it generally agreed that the less attention people offer Verungnr, the better off they are?" A: Rias says, "Yeah, it's not really put in the same category as Vandin and Iarel and Undm and such because they're all at least human-relatable. Even if you argue that humans themselves have made them that way, there's still the fact that Verungnr is decidedly -not- human-relatable, and virtually nobody claims otherwise. I could see that leaidng some to put it more in the Primal category, it definitely has more that kind of flavor. But I think most people don't go too hard into categorizing Verungnr other than to say its Verungnr, and it's weird and scary and different."
-BEAR SPIRIT LIKES FEASTS IN ITS HONOR! TAKE THAT, MACK!
-BOGVASKR -> BOGVASHER. Pronounciation counts.
-Liberi & Blood God not getting any mechanics; Liberi do not want to be your friends, guys.
-VODR is pronounced "voth-er", not "vo-der".
A: Rias says, "Some do consider Aranas to be an animal spirit, but it's more common to think of Aranas as an entity that takes the form of a spider, rather than being specifically a spider spirit. Or maybe it started out as a spider spirit and become more than that through somehow being the target of concentrated worship or belief. Or maybe it's a mask Ujaeio puts on when they want to get up to particularly spooky stuff." Rias says, "Everything was fine in Arad until that fateful Octum festival when Ujaeio saw a spider mask really liked."
Q: Any Giant-related lore that can be revealed? Are they similar to Jotunn, or are they literally giant humanoids? A: Most people agree that they can take physical human forms, but they're also spirits/forces. So they can take human form. But there are plenty of legends that involve them taking other forms, including intangible forms to move place to place. They could be "monsters" (they aren't bears or stags or anything); beasts/creatures that aren't well-described because there's no modern/common analog to them.
Q: Are sea shanties a religious action in that case? A: If done for the purposes of worship.
Q: Are the spirits concepts or actual entities.A: Actual entities
Q: Are there any invertebrate Great Animal Spirits? A: Yes
Q: Are there any methods of appeasing Rami that Bogvaskr wouldn't appreciate/pay mind to, and vice versa? I think this may have been spoken about previously, but exactly how different are the two from each other? And, just so I'm not missing anything, what sorts of offerings does Bogvaskr prefer? How about what he dislikes? Any more information that you're willing to share on this? A: That might be a raincheck and bbs posting better suited for it.
Q: Are there any Nature Spirits that are associated with the Fey Forest? A: There are a lot of theories that say it's the way it is because of primal influence of spirits. Some people associate Naia with the Fey Forest.
Q: Are there any remnants or physical signs of the Cataclysmic Event that Vodr helped the world avoid? ex. - "That lake was formed by that wild thing that happened? A: For the time being, he says "There are places that people claim are that." He does not want to truly confirm or deny. He has it as a clear, solid part about it in the history but he needs to polish details. Q: Are there any historical records or folktales that describe that cataclysmic time or event, that PCs would be privy to? A: Yes! He will put them out there for people to discover at some point. Currently, no, but lorewise possibly. He won't put them on the wiki. Maybe he will. HE HAS INFORMATION, THOUGH. FIND IT.
Q: Are there any rites/rituals/festivals honoring the Pumpkin King, both for guarding lost souls and fending off the Wraith. A: Yes, but Rias doesn't have specifics! He has to add them before Octum is over, definitely. He will commit to putting them in a wiki page and announcing it. Expecting it in a few days.
Q: Are we getting more Primal Spirits? A: Yes. Potentially, there's just a whole bunch of them. Conceptually, they're all over, they're just a natural part of the world.
Q: As the moon is connected to the tides, would Nereia have any connection to the moon, or is that too abstract a connection? A: The moon's not necessarily acknowledged as part of Nereia's domain. It's Aphraen's domain really, associated with dreams and the night.
Q: Chariot asks, "After you answer Tessa's question: I know of a player who has some interesting rp obsession with Hopta. Aside from whatever the library gives about their vague lore, what are they actually? Why and how are they even here to begin with?" A: Speaking to Chariot, Rias exclaims, "You know better than to ask me for OOC details on what is clearly some very vague and mysterious lore alluded to in-game!" Rias pokes his finger at Chariot. Chariot pouts at Rias. Speaking to Rias, Chariot says, "I don't mean for you to lay out every single thing ooc, lol! I mean...they seem to be a race that pops out of nowhere and the game lore, scarce as it is, mentions this only once." Rias exclaims, "It is pretty weird. Maybe see what that obsessed character thinks and ask where their theories come from!" Speaking to Rias, Chariot says, "Asking on behalf of that player. He wonders how to rp this without overstepping the lore." Rias says, "Oh. Well, I don't know what to say in this case other than it's best not to make any assumptions or take liberties with what is very clearly some obscure and mysterious lore." Rias says, "It can be something their character seeks to learn more about, for sure." Speaking to Rias, Chariot says, "Here's the thing. He rps it out as something vague we can't assume, like either a race that's still alive and hidden among those statues, or some ancestral spirits something something something. I don't know how to even go with this given how little people know about them." Rias says, "And have them ask around. I know there are a few characters that have picked up on some tibdits on the subject, and come up with theories." Speaking to Rias, Chariot asks, "So just keep it mysterious then? That it?" Rias says, "If that's what their character thinks, that's what they think. Treat it like you would in reality if someone was talking about some potential race of people or spirits or something that you'd never heard about. As long as they're not claiming OOC that their character knows more than what they've been able to learn in-game, it's fine for them to theorize or speculate or make IC assumptions on it, knowing that they may well be wrong because the information is extremely sparse and unreliable."
Q: Considering Nereia and Naia are lesser deitys, how often do you see churches to them? Are they the kind of deities who have large churches or just shrines in someone's home? A: More shrines and individual basis but no unfied churches or anything.Q:What would be in shrines? A:logical things, like for Nereaia seashells and on the coast, with Naia it use willow trees.
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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immortals part 2

Post by Teri »

immortals part 2

Q: Do any cultures in Arad have professional mourners or "mutes" (in this context, people hired to look sad at funerals)?In real life, both Eastern and Western cultures had them, and some still do. A: Not something he had in mind but probably. He feels that any culter that has a higher class or really honored caste is going to have the potential for something like that. Make sure the funeral is appropriate. Maybe for apperances and some kind of spiritual or ritualistic function mourning a tradional form of it. Nothing concret or details but you can say it is out there and part of the backstory.
Q: Do Nereia worshippers have any particular views of the other gods, there followers? Similarly, are Nereia worshippers seen any particular way by worshippers of other gods? A: Obviously they have a relationship with Vodr. According to lore he's her father, and her sister is Naia. There's likely an amount of low-key rivalry between a lot of Naia and Nereia adherents because Naia doesn't love that Nereia was the favourite. The sea is Nereia's domain, and there is this monstrosity (Verungnr) in there that she's trying to keep from causing death and destruction all over the place. That could be a potential point of contention between adherents of the two.
Q: Does Jonathon Crowhaven exist in the Lost Lands or outside of it or everywhere? A: His legend has a lot to do with Aetgard/Lost Lands region. Lots of people think he might be an incarnation of other beings instead. We don't know the real answer. He exists but hey, he doesn't want to see anyone, please leave him alone kthnx. He's an MLM leader, maybe? Maybe other people claim to be Crowhaven. Maybe he's not really a person. Who knows, we can't really know, there's no DNA testing in the Lost Lands.
Q: Dunwyrs hate construction things; would they hate the wall? Have there ever been Dunwyr attacks on it? A: He doesn't see the Dunwyr having activity out in that region, so probably not. They're less worried about walls and more worried about cities; they may not love it, but they have more important shiz to do.
Q: Eugor asks, "Is Aranas considered by anyone to be an animal spirit? What separates Aranas from the animal spirits?"
Q: Eugor says, "Nobody has their hand raised at the moment." Eugor points at Nobody. ** Eugor has ceded the floor to Nobody. Rias snickers. Marcuson covers his face with his palm. Chariot laughs! Nobody says, "Well, that's delightful." Nobody asks, Q: "Are there any prevalent theories about why octum spirits only show up on roads and not off the beaten path?" A: Rias says, "They're likely clinging to behaviors they knew in life, and naturally gravitate toward roads." Rias says, "Good way to phrase a question you know you won't get a straight answer to, by the way." Nobody exclaims, "Thanks, I try!"
Q: Given Iarel's purported proximity to the Great Serpent Spirit, does this mean that followers of Iarel who are aware of druidic practices tend to be more supportive of it than most? Are they likely to play homage to the Great Serpent Spirit itself as well as Iarel? A: Yeah, they have that history. There is a blurb on the BBS that I need to put into the game itself, since it is a heft chunk right there.
Q: Gorth asks, "Any particularly known things Undm worshipers do? Secondarily, what kinds of things would be something you'd squeeze into your worship if you were a silly person who didn't worship her all the time?" A: Rias says, "The last "creepy" comment being mostly because of how humankind looks at (and fears) death, though. Undm adherents tend to be interested in comforting those thinking about or facing death, not in being spooky death-cultists." A: Rias says, "Rain check on the specifics. I think that'd make for a good post (or addition to the wiki/helpfile document."
Q: Gorth asks, "Booooring! Last one, and then I'm done for a while, sorry! How does Undm like the undying?" A: Rias says, "That's a less solid one, because it's an anomalous phenomenon limited to a specific place that the rest of the world tends to stay out of, and it's also a somewhat recent thing. Among adherents in the Lost Lands who have accepted that the Undying thing is in fact real, thoughts are going to vary. Some say it's a troublesome and worrying anomaly throwing off the way things should be. Others might say it's Undm who's responsible for it the first place, perhaps as a curse leveled against those who found themselves exiled to the Lost Lands."
Q: Gorth asks, "How are Undm worshippers viewed by the general populous?" A:Rias says, "Undm worshippers are generally well-respected (not a great idea to risk offending someone who potentially has some clout with the one in charge of your afterlife), but probably treated as a bit eccentric or creepy. It's of course going vary greatly depending on the individual, but that's a sort of generalized overall perception."
Q: Gorth asks, "Right, two more. Undm worshipper colors?" A: Rias says, "Good question! I have multiple ideas, none of which I've committed to yet."
Q: Gorth exclaims, "Alright: Do Undm's domains extend beyond Judgement? E.G. would it be folly to use her as a form of War God due to her (apparent) ties to death? Similarly, would she dislike being used as a judge for one particular side as Verungnr might be a judge for the wicked? JUSTICE!" A: Rias says, "Undm isn't really associated with causing or inflicting death. More the handling of souls who have died. How exactly she judges the worthiness of souls is somewhat vague, and different cultures have their different ideas to the specifics of course."
Q: Gorth says, "How common is it for someone to make that mistake, though, I guess is my question. They'd be like, oo, souls! Afterlife! That means death god! And get got by a local Undm worshipper for disrespecting there god. Goddess? Whatever. A: Rias says, "Verungnr is less a judge and more a monstrous eldritch entity that has particular tastes that happen to be occasionally be handy in certain matters of judgment to certain individuals." Rias says, "I suppose it's reasonable that some might see Undm as a death-bringer rather than a death-handler, but I wouldn't imagine it's very common."
Q: Gorth says, "Next, then. Lots of 'common's in this question: How common is specifically Undm worship? How common is it to pray to her specifically and not just as a whole or as an uncommon occurance." A: Rias says, "Considering she handles what's going to happen to souls in an eternal afterlife, I'd say most people manage to squeeze her into their religious outlook in one way or another. Particularly dedicated or fervent worship however is probably less common. People have that general tendency to focus on the here and now. Poor Undm likely often gets treated as more of an insurance type of entity, but there are going to be those few who are looking more to their future in the afterlife than this life, or feel called to serve Undm and potentially have a place in that whole system." Gorth asks, "So no religious Undm worshipping groups or churches, then? Or at least, not common?"Rias asks, "There are some, but overall less common, yes. Why invest in my future when you can invest in your present?" Rias says, "Mixed up my/your in that last, but you get the idea."
Q: I know we have Baktu In Lore, but are there any other examples of Trickster Spirits or Trickster Gods in the Coggverse you could share with us? A: Not that he can share with us at this time. But that means yes. He has some plans. Keep your eyes peeled like grapes.
Q: I read there are different animal Spirits of the same kind in different region, at least for wolves. That means Bears Spirit too? A: There is one bear that is the most popular and prominate one. Doesn't mean the other ones are beholden but it is regarded as the most powerful and influential. The more one is worshipped they get more power. Is it such an ancient entity there are debates on as, is the great spirit because it is already super power, or because people gave it all this respect to empower? Or a little bit both. No hard answer to that.
Q: I'm just assuming that "Kurn" isn't actually Kurn's true name. For reasons. Who named Kurn? We know the legends say Bogvaskr discovered her, but in what culture did that legend originate? A: That's a good question. The origin of the name is lost to the ages.
Q: If I bury my body with like an iron cross will that prevent my spirit from being turned into a shade over time? Why don't graveyards do this if so? A: They already kind of do. There's a grave with iron rods in the Evergreen Graveyard. People don't bury people in graveyards that now obviously have walking skeletons and such. That's why they have the crypt.
Q: if worshippers worship multiple ones will there be conflict between all of them? A: He doesn't think so. A tendency that Rias has seen with players is that they tend to focus on one, and at least give acknowledgement to the others. There's no problem with someone wanting to respect all four of those under discussion.
Q: If you want to accomplish any in-character action that is not coded; some project or profoundly ill-advised activity with NPCs or something, what is the way to go about this? A: Use the think command when rping things out. Rambling on expectations and responses for goals: Try to keep roleplaying it and get people behind you rping it but don’t let it become an expectation. Getting godly responses involves a number of factors. Wants to figure out a way to make it better. Keep at it after you do your thing, if possible, stick around for a little while after any thinks or prayers. He has had moments when writing a response characters have run off immediately. In the case of special stuff or features, he would love to do special things for everybody, but timing, focus and rp for the right thing can be years in the making.
Q: is Aphraen associated with the moon? A: It's more as a symbol. There are legends about her having a temple site on the moon, where they take their vantage over the nightC: Rias wants to dig into the celestial bodies. He does like digging into reality as baseline, but that's not to say that physics are equal in reality and in the COGG universe. C: The Father of Seasons is a harbinger! He's interested in decay, interacting with renewal. Somewhat suspect C: The jester-god is associated with deceptions, illusions... they're kind of an unofficial patron of bards and words of power. A patron of performers, as well as thieves and spies.
Q: Is it known whether or not Jonathon Crowhaven has ruled over a community? Like as a quasi-political ruler. A: We don't know, that is one the big mysteries.
Q: Is there anything you can tell us about the general cosmology about the world COGG is set in, that our PCs might know about? I know we don't have plane-hopping magic (and I don't ever expect to), but are there (whether scholarly or folkloric) accounts of other worlds, the afterlife, etc., beyond what is already listed on the wiki? Specifically, I was thinking about the afterlife in general in regards to like... A punitive afterlife (akin the modern concept of "Hell"), but that led me to think about general non-terrestrial cosmology. Any weird other worlds you can tell us (even apocryphal) info about? Does Undm ONLY decide if a soul passes on or stays, or do they have purview over the "location" a soul goes in the afterlife? A: We're going to make that one a BBS question.
Q: Nereia is the patron goddess of sailors. As such, one can imagine sailors pray to her on the sea. However, the worship or service section of her helpful mentions seashells and throwing fish back, but these acts can't be done on a ship. What are some other well known practices for the goddess other than what is mentioned? A: A lot of association with singing, or prayers done through song, a lot of the time. In terms of other rites, there's nothing super specific that's not just commonly understood (dedicating part of your catch, throwing it back if a fisherman, etc.)
Q: NPC Druids seem to mention rituals and spirits. There are bits that suggest possession. Would these more shamanistic aspects of Druidism (rituals, banishing/summoning primal spirits, spirit possession) be something players could engage with in the future as new abilities or even something roleplayed? If so, maybe it would be a way to differentiate Primalists from the other two Druid classes. A: "Yeah, I think that would be cool, it'd be fun." He likes the idea of it being how they achieve certain effects/powers; it'd be cool for primalists to specialize in. Not that other druids couldn't do it, but having it be a specialization of primalists would be cool. He has ideas for that kind of thing.
Q: On the subject of the church, with the new addition of the new death mechanics, is there anything you can tell us about how the priestesses of Undm bring people back? How do they know your name? A: That's a great question, isn't it?
Q: Silly asks, "I remembered another question I had. Is it possible to become so caught up in dealings with Ujaeio and illusions that you forget things about yourself,, like with Malfant? Is the gester looked to for guidance by those who struggle with dissociation?" A: Rias says, "I think it's potentially possible just by means of getting so caught up and lost in various roles and identities and such that one might start to forget, but I would say that's more on the adherent than on Ujaeio. Unless of cours Ujaeio was interested in specifically doing that to the person, for some reason. It's hard to get a good idea of what the Jester is actually doing and why."
Q: Taliba asks, "The second questions. Are there any connections between Qetzicotl and Balastrossa?" A: ((DEV Rias)) asks, "People have certainly made their own proposed connections between Qetzicotl and Balastrossa, but nothing official. The same entity? The same type of being? Associates? BFFS?"
Q: Tasks: Has Rias put thought into group tasks/multi-step tasks/skill requirement tasks? A: Yes. He'd like to do that someday. We love teamwork in Cogg, OK? Don't solo everything!In Other Game, there were instanced Dwaedn tasks, but they were a nightmare. Rias has ideas. Instancing is easy, because it can be generic, having others show up in known locations is also good.Maybe there are suggestions.
Q: The Vitality ability draws from surrounding Druids pretty heavily. Presumably, the Vitality ability is drawing from natural spirits or similar entities, but one, what distinguishes a horse from a normal human in this case, and two, what distinguishes a Druid and a normal human in this case? A: It is generally assumed humans are separate from the primal link that connects the rest of the world, hence why they need to be trained into that link via Druidry.
Q: There are some things that players would like to do that would seem to make sense in-universe but aren't represented by mechanics and represent at least an attempt to fiddle with the plot. e.g. Investigating treatments for the resen. unguents, extracts, or "smoking out" the cultists by filling the catacombs with campfires. Should we message the gm team about these just to notify/ask for gm-interaction? If so, how? Would asking for something like "emberberry extract" or "emberberry unguent", even if they have literally no mechanical use at the time of implementation, be something to post on the bboard? A: Probably the best way to go about that is to roleplay it consistently; make sure it's a known thing about the character! They don't want to do things like closing down hunting grounds entirely, for instance removing the cultists. When it comes to working on cures, make sure your character is RPing it a lot and thinking it a lot and making it known to the public that they're looking it to it; it may or may not come to fruition, but it is worth the shot to see if it would affect things.
Q: There's a book at the library entitled The Ravings of Xital, Mad Prophet of Teonanacatl. Could you tell us more about them? A: They rave Madly. Something to get back on, think he remembers but needs to look over notes
Q: This is kind of a weird question that's hard to phrase exactly how I want to: In what ways were early Druidic rituals/powers/etc. different from "modern" (by IC standards) Druidry? Did Druids always use tattoos, or were there ways of interacting and channeling primal forces that predate the tattoo focuses (like a kind of proto-Druidry)? A: Druidry as we see it in COGG, "Modern Druidry" if you like, was discovered as a common way to establish the Bond. There were Druids at some point who didn't use the tattoos method. There's talk about ancient druidry, talk about people that were able to commune in some way with primal spirits without going through this thing that we see in the game. They tend to involve particular places or sites, that are connected to a primal spirit, and then there are all sorts of rituals they would go through to establish those communications. He's not going into detail because he doesn't necessarily have those details. After ages and ages, we found that this method, the tattooing thing is the best way to take someone and open up that conduit.
Q: This might be a reappearing question and if so I'm sorry, but Primal spirits, are they only felt through druidic means, or could a normal human accidentally stumble upon one. Clearly to one untrained they might think it a ghost or spectre. (Not mechanics more RP) A:People could feel the effects of primal spirits without being a druid, but of course druids will sense or get a better read on them. If they are powerful, non druids would feel a presence or feel something is off there. depends on what the primal spirit is suited for. Very variable things. Not always detectable.
Q: What does mermaid's tears taste like? A: Rias doesn't know a lot about alchol in general really! it's definitely alcoholic. He would love to get suggestions for what it actually is, perhaps some strings for drinks. C: Sings/recites/prays are logged.
Q: What's the name of the world, like the planet, I know the continent is Arad or one of them is at least. Is it simply just Gaea or do none druids have a name for it also? A: Rias has a name for it, but he's not ready to reveal it.
Q: Where is Destiny Owleyes' nation in relation to the Lost Lands? A: Southwest. It's very cold.Someday you might be able to visit it? It's called Caldwell. Little big-town city. It's unnaturally cold, the southwest isn't really that cold. She's cold.
Q: Will Ujaeio be credited with all Bardic methods of emotional manipulation, or explicitly just the words? A: There will be a lot of belief and speculation that they all came from Ujaeio, but nothing definitive.
Q: Would it be a common sight to see someone standing in the commons, preaching about Bathal? A: Yeah. It would be accepted as long as they don't disturb the peace for. Might take a look if it disturbs the peace. There is no prohibited practice for adherents to preach. Q: Would someone need a permit to do such a thing?A: No, but probably need a permit for an official gathering place but walking around is fine.
Q: You ask, We know that Kurn is an arch-daemon. What's the difference between a daemon and an arch-daemon? Is it a mere power thing or do daemons have their own hierarchy? Can a daemon become an arch-daemon by accruing more power or proving themselves in some way?" Rias says, "Rain check on Delphine's question, other than I suppose: suffice it for now to say arch-daemons would be the most powerful, prominent, and/or influential." You ask, "Delphine: Are there any other named daemons out there in the world?" Rias says, "Yes! But I'm not willing to drop those names yet."
Q: You ask, "Another question from BBS What was Shatterpeak Pass named after? Some peak named Shatterpeak? What was that named after?" A: Rias says, "That pass has a lot of shattered boulders and crags and stuff like that, and yeah, one peak in particular that looks like some giant came along and hit it with a huge club, knocking the top off and leaving the remaining top full of sharp cracks and crags." Rias says, "In in interviews, The Mountain Father has stated that he can neither confirm nor deny any involvement."
Q: You ask, "Delphine: Do daemons exist on some other plane of existence? If so, can they be summoned into the physical plane? And if so, how did Kurn get here?" Rias says, "A good question, and one I'm not ready to answer yet, as I'm not sure how much should be common knowledge. Sorry! I'll make a note to get to adding some lore studies and/or articles sometime." You say, "She's going to be maaad." You ask, "Delphine: Is there any other daemon lore you've considered that you would like to share?" A: Rias says, "Yes, but I won't let myself yet, because the details aren't all hammered out. (Mostly in how I want to present it, and how much to give and how much to withold.)."
Q: You say, "A follow up, for those passing through who are sailing through the Veil of Dreams, they don't choose exactly what they forget. I'm curious how the trips are handle with wonky memories, or if the individuals who aren't effect on trips directs things a bit." Rias says, "Yes, that's why the voyages have those chosen favored of Aphraen who are immune, or at least immune-enough, to guide the people back or make decisions or directions that require knowledge forgotten by everyone else." Q: You say, "Neat! I'm guessing Aphraen isn't going to yoink basic survival skills and sailing, but the secrets as mentioned. I'm curious if any mundane things are forgotten, though." A: Rias says, "Yeah, it's mostly Homeland Secrets and directions that are lost. They'll retain their general skillsets, knowledge of their specific mission and cargo, etc. Or if their mission involves the Homeland Secrets somehow, they'd still maintain the drive to do a specific thing even if they don't remember exactly why."
Q: Zombilicious asks, "How do Hesutu and Undm interact? Does the fact that Hesutu cares primarily about an end coming, rather than an end coming, give them any relationship or are they fairly ambivalent?"A: Rias says, "Yru's definitely getting a lump of coal if Hesutu ends up with her as his gift swap recipient." Rias says, "I think Hesutu and Undm are generally pretty okay with each other on a personal level."
Q:. How does Hesutu feel regarding the Undying, considering the Undying do eventually die but do not immediately die."A: Rias says, "The Undying aren't too much of a worry as they still do age and die of it, but they're still an interesting anomaly to keep an eye on and be wary of." Rias says, "(And of course, may of them do eventually die their last death even before old age gets them, even if we don't have that happen to PCs for It's A Game Reasons(tm))."
C: Vand-IN, but it's really Van-DEEN.
Q: Did the Hopta make the catacombs? Bonehead must know. information here is redacted from conversations, because LEARN IT IN GAME, GUYS.
Q: There is a certain constellation, at least from before, which had a secondary association with serpents for druids: the River. Is this still so? A: Yes! The constellations are the same.
Q: Is the opening of the Way of Dreams accessible by air balloon? A: Go get one and find out.
Q: What is the significance of puma that they seem to have some connection to death and/or the afterlife? A: That might be a toss a lore study on that item. There is a lot of lore stuff he wants to put stuff on items.
Q: Would it be safe to assume that people could encounter a totally unheard of Primal Thing that isn't otherwise documented, then? A: Yes.
Q: Are there superstitions around birth constellations? A: Yes, but it doesn't particularly align with the real world, so people interested in astrology will have to remain calm.
Last edited by Teri on Fri Jan 06, 2023 7:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Oh no, looks like I might die as I have lived. In the wrong place at the wrong time
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